{"id":2187,"date":"2017-02-12T04:00:28","date_gmt":"2017-02-12T09:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/?p=2187"},"modified":"2016-12-08T20:06:47","modified_gmt":"2016-12-09T01:06:47","slug":"2187-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/2187-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Bluewood or eBay Scam Artist"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Geographic Distribution<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Writing about Bluewood represents a great deal of investigation and some degree of luck.  In the end I believe that I was the victim of an eBay <\/a>scam artist.<\/p>\n

The wood was sold to me as, and I do quote, “Blue Brazil talow wood” on eBay in 2009.  If you can find references to that exact string than you are better Internet search master than I can claim to be.<\/p>\n

“Tallowwood” usually refers to a type of Eucalyptus sp<\/em>., often sourced from plantations in Brazil, that is commonly used as a flooring material.  It is so named because it tends to be greasy to the touch until finished.  However, this wood is most certainly not blue.<\/p>\n

Searches for a blue wood frequently yield references to Blue Mahoe, properly known as Talipariti elatum<\/em>, which is native to the Caribbean, particularly Jamaica and Cuba although it is widely planted throughout the region.  Despite the common name, T. elatum<\/em> heartwood is generally more gray than blue, although it can have a bluish cast.<\/p>\n

The wood I worked with was a vibrant blue throughout and it did not at first appear to be dyed because the color, while intense, was somewhat variable and not as overtly blue as dyed wood that I have seen sold commercially or that I have dyed myself.<\/p>\n

\"Bluewood?\"

Bluewood?<\/p><\/div>\n

Finally, through persistence and a good deal of luck, I discovered a wood turning forum where someone displayed pens made from exactly the same wood that I had.  The turner didn’t provide any additional details and most of the string commentary was useless, as is so often the case with forum threads, but eventually by using terms similar to those used in the thread I discovered the potential identity of the wood sold to me as “Blue Brazil talow wood.”<\/p>\n

My wood MIGHT be scientifically known as Condalia hookeri<\/em>, or more commonly by the following names: bluewood condalia, brasil, brasilwood, bluewood, logwood, purple haw, or capul negro.<\/p>\n

C. hookeri<\/em> is native only to the dryer areas of the Edwards Plateau and South Texas Plains of Texas, as you might have guessed. The C. hookeri<\/em> tree is more generally described as a shrub although it can reach over 30 feet in height.<\/p>\n

However, I am not in further doubt as to the actual identity of the wood that I worked with because other sources of information say that the heartwood is a bright red color, which would account for the use of the term “brasil” which can refer to a red color in Portuguese.  Yet another source claims that the wood is grayish although a blue dye can be extracted from it.<\/p>\n

Other sources describe the wood as being very hard, and yet the wood I worked with was quite soft.  Again, this throws considerable doubt on the actual identification of the wood that I worked with being actual C. hookeri<\/em> despite the common names matching up.<\/p>\n

The actual identity of the wood I worked and that I will choose to call Bluewood from here forward may never be known with total certainty, but I will proceed to present what limited information I have regarding the wood from C. hookeri<\/em>.<\/p>\n

General Characteristics<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Due to the limited size of the tree\/shrub that produces Bluewood, the general characteristics of the wood are not well documented.<\/p>\n

Working Characteristics<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Bluewood is never harvested commercially and only rarely harvested and processed by small scale hobbyist, so its specific working characteristics have not been documented.  I will share my very limited experiences below.<\/p>\n

Pricing and Availability<\/strong><\/h2>\n

At this time, I cannot find a single seller of Bluewood anywhere so it is safe, I think, to say that availability is extremely limited to nonexistent.<\/p>\n

In terms of pricing, I paid about $1.00 per blank for blanks sized ¾” x 5” and upwards of $5.00 per blank for larger 7\/8” x 5” blanks.  This, however, represents auction prices from 2009 so they may be artificially inflated, or depressed, based on buyer demand at the time they were being sold.  As it happened, they ran the range from among the cheapest pen blanks to among the most expensive, depending on the size, and again and crucially, depending on auction sales demand and bidding.<\/p>\n

Woodfinder <\/a>is an excellent website that is dedicated to advertising wood dealers and I almost always recommend them.  However, they do not currently list any sources of Bluewood.  I can’t claim to be surprised.<\/p>\n

Uses<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Perhaps the most traditional use of Bluewood is the extraction of a blue dye from the wood although I would imagine that modern aniline dyes have essentially eliminated this use of the wood today.<\/p>\n

Bluewood is also prized as high energy firewood in its native region.<\/p>\n

The shrub\/tree from which Bluewood is harvested is reported to be in almost continuous bloom and therefore almost always bearing small reddish to black fruit that can be used to make jams and jellies, although harvesting is complicated by the presence of large thorns.  Deer especially enjoy browsing on the tender leaves and many fruit eating animals will eat the fruit as well.<\/p>\n

Sustainability<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Bluewood 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<\/a> nor is Bluewood listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To the best of my knowledge, Bluewood is not subject to any special restrictions by any United States government agency.<\/p>\n

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, any longer although I have in the past clearly, to purchase any wood from auction sites, such as Ebay<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n

However, due to the commercial scarcity of some domestic woods, resorting to auction sites such as Ebay<\/a> or Etsy <\/a>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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Health Hazards<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There are no documented health risks specifically associated with the use of Bluewood. However, the long-term negative health effects of exposure to sawdust of any species are well documented.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Appropriate protective equipment is therefore always recommended when working with this, or any other, wood, exotic or domestic, unless you have worked with the species before and are certain you are not sensitive to it.<\/p>\n

Complete information about health hazards<\/a> associated with a wide variety of exotic hardwoods is available from The Wood Database<\/a>.  Additional information about how to best use a dust collection system and personal protective equipment, such as respirators, can also be found through this excellent and comprehensive resource<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, I experienced no negative side effects when working with Bluewood.<\/p>\n

My Personal Experiences                        <\/strong><\/h2>\n

I have only worked with two small pieces of Bluewood in pen blank format so I am certainly not an expert, but I will share my limited experiences.<\/p>\n

My pieces of Bluewood were quite soft, so soft in fact that I find myself wondering if perhaps what I had been sold was just Tilia americana<\/em> (Basswood, Linden, or Lime with the latter two being European common names) that had been cleverly dyed blue and then sold as a naturally blue wood.<\/p>\n

As a soft wood the Bluewood cut rapidly and easily but not very cleanly.  Bluewood, as I expected, sanded quite easily and quickly.  And it is obviously blue completely through with even the sanding dust being distinctly blue in coloration.<\/p>\n

I opted to use a cyanoacrylate finish, as I tend to do on most all pens that I make, and I discovered, somewhat to my surprise, that the finish significantly darkened the Bluewood.  It was still recognizably blue but it was much darker following the application of the finish.  Unfortunately, I don’t think that the person I gave it to as a Christmas gift appreciated the rare nature of a naturally blue wood, but I remained impressed.<\/p>\n

The characteristics of the true Brazil Bluewood from Texas simply do not match up with the wood that I worked with although those characteristics seem to be in doubt as well since almost every source that references C. hookeri<\/em> refers only to the botanical nature of the shrub with only two sources addressing the appearance of the wood and those are in conflict with one source claiming the wood is red and the other claiming it is gray.  I suppose a blue dye could be extracted from a reddish wood but I am skeptical about that although I can easily believe that a grayish wood could yield a bluish dye although I can’t imagine it would be a bright blue.<\/p>\n

True blue is a very rare color to have occur in nature, being rarely seen even in flowers and not in any fruit that I am familiar with.  In the final analysis I think that the wood I purchased as a wood that was naturally blue throughout was an eBay scam.  I simply do not believe that if there really was a wood that was naturally intensely blue throughout that more would not have been written about it or that other examples of turned pieces would have turned up online somewhere.<\/p>\n

I think that in 2009 I was credulous and easily misled by wood scammers due to my lack of familiarity with different woods and I fell for it.  If this wood was real and not simply a dyed softwood surely it would still be sold because it would have a high appeal to wood turners and other wood workers.  This experience further causes me to be quite vary of buying much of anything, let alone wood, on auction sites such as eBay where the barrier against scam artists is low to non-existent.<\/p>\n

If I had to put a name to the wood I worked with I would go with Basswood or perhaps a Eucaplytus<\/em> species that was cleverly dyed.  But I will never know for certain and the old adage remains as true today as ever: If it sounds too good to true it probably is.  A naturally occurring through and through blue wood just sounds too good to be true.  So, shame on me for falling for it in my wood turning youth.<\/p>\n

The seller was listed as “stevesstuff66”.  I cannot recommend purchasing ANYTHING from this seller, although predictably there is no longer any such seller listed on eBay.<\/p>\n

As always, I wish all my readers a great experience in whatever their wood working interests happen to be and to those who like working with lathes especially, do a good turn today!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

True blue is a very rare color to have occur in nature, being rarely seen even in flowers and not in any fruit that I am familiar with. In the final analysis I think that the wood I purchased as a wood that was naturally blue throughout was an eBay scam. 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