Katalox

It is commonly used as an inlay, including for parquet flooring, for its dark color.

It may also find use in the construction of very fine furniture and cabinetry, often with the sapwood used to full effect as a contrast to the very dark hardwood, which will darken over time.  This use is especially prevalent in its native areas in southern Mexico.

Increasingly Katalox is being recognized as a fine tone wood and is finding use in musical instruments, especially in guitar manufacture.

Katalox is also recognized as an excellent turning wood due to its extreme hardness, so it find use in the manufacture of turned items such as bowls, pens, other desk tools, vases, and other small specialty items such as knife and gun grips that are typically carved.

Sustainability

Katalox is not listed as being in any way threatened or endangered by the Convention in International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendices nor does it appear on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.

To the best of my knowledge, Katalox is not subject to any special restrictions by any United States government agency.

I realize that inherent in working with wood is the killing of a part of the natural world that may be slow to return and if I become deeply concerned about this fact, I will have to find a new hobby.  I hope that such a time does not come to pass or at least not any time soon.  In part because I am concerned about legally and responsibly obtained wood, I am reluctant to buy from sellers outside of well-established and known vendors.  I am highly unlikely, for example, to purchase any wood from auction sites, such as Ebay, because of uncertain sourcing and documentation, as well as the potential, even likelihood, of material being misidentified in order to achieve a higher selling price.

However, due to the commercial scarcity of some domestic woods, resorting to auction sites such as Ebay or Etsy may be the only way to obtain some desirable domestic, or in some cases exotic imported, species that are not routinely commercially harvested.  The potential risks of buying in these marketplaces have to be balanced against the desire to work with a specific species of wood.  That is inherently an individual decision.

I also realize that many, if not most, wood workers do not have endangered species lists memorized, therefore I think it worthwhile and important to do even a small amount of research before purchasing any lumber, domestic as well as imported, to be certain of the potential impact you are having, even in a small way, on threatened or endangered populations.  This information is easy to come by and takes only minutes to locate through any Internet search engine, including those you can access on your phone as you are standing in the lumber yard or store.  Unfortunately, you simply cannot count on a vendor to tell you a product they are selling is endangered.

Health Hazards

Care and caution are required when working with Katalox because it has been reported to cause respiratory irritation in some individuals.

In addition, the long-term negative effects of exposure to sawdust of any species are well documented.

It is important to remember that although many people may, or may not, be sensitive to any given wood the only experience that truly counts is your own, so use reported side effects as guidance but not as a substitute for cautious and safe practices.  After all, despite a lack of reported major health effects, turning a bowl blank of Timborana almost killed me through immediate respiratory distress followed by a multiple week long illness, so caution is ALWAYS warranted.