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Thread: Chechen wood for back and sides?

  1. #1
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    Default Chechen wood for back and sides?

    Has anyone used chechen wood as an alternative to indian rosewood? I am looking for an alternative wood type for a flat top octave mandolin I am planning to build.
    Bob Schmidt

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    Registered User j. condino's Avatar
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    Default Re: Chechen wood for back and sides?

    Of all the affordable non-standard rosewood like materials I've used, Katalox is probably my favorite and you can often find it for about $10-12 a board foot at better hardwood suppliers.
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  4. #3

    Default Re: Chechen wood for back and sides?

    I've never heard of ' chechen wood ' where does that come from then ?

    Dave H
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  5. #4

    Default Re: Chechen wood for back and sides?

    If that’s Sheesham Wood, it’s a variety of Indian Rosewood & generally used for furniture. We’ve seen them using it to build beach shacks in Goa so it must be fairly plentiful.

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    Default Re: Chechen wood for back and sides?

    According to the stewmac website it is nicknamed carribian rosewood. I had never heard of it before finding it on their web site.

    Thanks James, I will check that out.
    Bob Schmidt

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    Registered User Charles E.'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Chechen wood for back and sides?

    Chechen wood...

    https://www.wood-database.com/chechen/

    I had never heard of it before but it looks like it would be worth a try.
    Charley

    A bunch of stuff with four strings

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    Registered User j. condino's Avatar
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    Default Re: Chechen wood for back and sides?

    Chechen, Billy web, Chokte Kok, & Katalox are all non traditionals that I used back in the early 1990s when they were regularly found at the hipster decking and golf course materials places around Bend (a run down small town that had about 22,000 people population back then).

    Guess what? They all tended to sound like one of my guitars, just like when I went the extra distance for more top shelf exotics like Brazilian rosewood.

    There are plenty of native NJ woods that you can use to make a great instrument. This week I'm really enjoying working with local mulberry that I torrefied; 'can't say enough praise for it, just like when I lived in Oregon and used a lot of local myrtle.
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    Default Re: Chechen wood for back and sides?

    Thanks James,
    I was looking for something similar in grain and color to Indian rosewood without the CITES ramifications. Black walnut may work, but i don't know of a local source. I looked up Katalox, and that would also be a possibility, but again I am not sure of a source. The few local lumber yards that carry hardwoods only seem to carry oak, cherry, maple and sapele.
    I don't currently have a band saw large enough in my shop to do the resawing although that would probably be a good excuse to visit a friend in Va. that does have one.
    Bob Schmidt

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    Registered User j. condino's Avatar
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    Default Re: Chechen wood for back and sides?

    If you head further south, know an old geezer in North Carolina who has a bandsaw that can probably help you resaw some sides and tell a story or two about building mandolinzzzzz.....
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  13. #10

    Default Re: Chechen wood for back and sides?

    Bruce Sexauer, the Petaluma-based luthier who is extremely generous in sharing his long experience, has built with Chechen and sings its praises.

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