# Why is Snakewood so expensive?



## ossaguy

When I was looking thru the blanks at Rockler,I was wondering why the Snakewood blanks are so pricey? ( around 15-16 bucks )

Is it super rare,or hard to harvest? They do look pretty neat,though.




Steve


----------



## Seer

Look around online it is half that price most places.  I did the same take when I first saw it.


----------



## Gulfcoast

Steve ---

---- you can get it here ---

http://www.bellforestproducts.com/exotic-wood/snakewood/

   Joe


----------



## Texatdurango

ossaguy said:


> ........I was looking thru the blanks at *Rockler*.....
> 
> Steve


 
There is your main problem! I never buy any wood at Rockler or Woodcraft unless I can help it.  There are too many good online sources.   A couple years ago the local Woodcraft in Ft Worth had a huge crate full of snakewood for sale. the sad thing is that the wood was priced way too high AND it was junk! Either the employees got to the good stuff first or the store bought a crate full of cracked leftovers! I didn't see one piece fit to make a pen with let alone anything larger.

Perhaps that too is part of the high prices, it cracks so readily that you have to go through so much to find a decent piece to work with.


----------



## Akula

I have not understood why it got so expensive.  When I first started, it was very cheap and I bought up a lot.  Think I was paying $1.00 a pen blank.  Even grabbed some up on sale for less.  It looks pretty good and kinda easy to turn and finish but not one of my favorite woods to mess with because of how it turns.


----------



## ohiococonut

I never buy any wood blanks online unless they show me a picture of the "exact" item I'm going to get. When I started out turning I was really disappointed with my first wood purchase and that broke me of it. For the price of some of these premium wood blanks they sure can send you some crap.


----------



## Bree

Most snakewood is not what turners are looking for.  Only a small percentage has the figure that is prized.  It is a small tree and gives a small yield... making it rare and expensive.







Here is a board which has very few of the prized spots.  One full of spots has a big premium attached to it.

It also is tough wood to work because it has a strong tendency to crack and it will often do so after the project is complete.  So you are rolling the bones with this wood.


----------



## ryvnd2001

ohiococonut said:


> I never buy any wood blanks online unless they show me a picture of the "exact" item I'm going to get. When I started out turning I was really disappointed with my first wood purchase and that broke me of it. For the price of some of these premium wood blanks they sure can send you some crap.


 

Agree with you 100%.  I'd be willing to pay more for a piece if I know exactly what I am getting.  As for snakewood...  It's one of my favorite woods.  Difficult to work and keep from cracking but the results of the challenge are worth it.  Obviously, not for beginners!  As mentioned in prior posts, premium pieces of snakewood are expensive because having figure throughout the blank and on all four sides is hard to come by.  I bought a bunch of this stuff directly from a supplier and got to pick through to find the best pieces.

Ryan


----------



## renowb

Have You ever tried getting that wood off of a snake? :biggrin:


----------



## KenV

the bigger, better, and more complete coverage of spots -- the higher the price I expect to pay.

You tend to get the best from those who handle lots of specialty woods -- but they also know the grades and prices.

Generally Rockler and Woodcraft or other general service/supply stores do not have the specialty quality and knowledge.


----------



## Daniel

Several years ago there where several people selling truly top quality pen blanks. Actually many of them still are. But they showed many others that prices will be payed far above what was common back then. say the average blanks was well under $1.00 while these few where asking and getting $4 per blank or more. Since then I have seen the asking price of even ordinary blanks rise drastically. it is almost like just calling it a pen blank adds $2.00 to it's price. I regularly return blanks to a couple of suppliers. Speaking on the phone to one of them about some particularly disappointing buckeye burl. they said they do not hand select the blanks for the quality. I said you price them like you do so that is what I expect. I then asked if they could provide the quality they are charging for or not otherwise I would find it somewhere else. They sent hand selected replacements that where just fine. The way I see it I am still paying for 50 cents blanks. The supplier just had to sort through and throw out the other 7 I am not willing to make a pen out of. and yes it is pretty much that bad. Bill B told me once that he hand selects the wood he will try to cut blanks from and still ends up throwing out over 20% of the wood. that is what makes a $4.00 blank worth $4.00. not that some other guy sold that type of wood for $4.00. But if a person can hack up just any old board and sell it for that. they will. I once did a group buy for 500 lbs of walnut that I hand selected. I don't think that wood yielded much more than 100 lbs of really quality pen making wood. There are reasons pen blanks cost as much as they do. btu if you don't know it you can also just get hosed. price is not everything. if the price shocks me the blank better wow me.


----------



## GregHight

The wholesale price is crazy on snakewood. I got a chance to visit Fabs at Cormark Int. in Ashville, NC and wholesale availability on that and many others is drying up.  The Chinese are buying up wood by the containerload all over the world and driving up the price since export quotas are enforced in many countries.

Expect many woods to skyrocket or be almost imposible to get.


----------



## Boss302

This person sells Snakewood logs on Ebay with free shipping.  I visited his shop (which interestingly is a shoe warehouse) a couple of years ago and purchased a few logs.  If you expect to use a fair amount of Snakewood in the future, one of his small logs might work although it's probably too much wood for most people.  Here's one of his Ebay listings:  http://cgi.ebay.com/Exotic-Craft-Lu...709?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4840bf626d

Pat


----------



## thewishman

If I remember correctly, snakewood only grows in Suriname. That limits the amount of wood available.


----------



## clapiana

shoes and snakewood logs go figure


----------



## dom1971

*Snakewood sawyer turned pen turner*

Hello,

 I am new to pen turning and have fond a way to keep the snakewood from cracking. It works 9/10 times:
Hi,

I figured out how to stop the cracking. I drill using a drill press and do it incrementally so as not to overheat. I usually have 5 blanks that I drill at the same time, one after the other and keep going back to them.

Second I use epoxy on the tubes.

When I square the ends I use a rest 90 degress to a sander, i used to use a chuck and a jacobs but there was too much vibration

When I square off the ends I immediately like seconds afterwards drop some thin CA on those ends, one or two drops until it gets absorbed

I let it rest one day and put the blanks on a mandrel for a few minutes sometimes overnight, I have several loaded mandrels.

I use thin CA on my first pass, then several with the medium or thick

I actually had one start to crack but I put some thin CA and put thicker the next day and it worked fine and held

I have Gabon ebony, Az Desert Ironwood and snakewood. Ill specialize iun those

I am new here and could use some help to start a snakewood pen tunring post.

- dom1971


----------



## jttheclockman

dom1971 said:


> Hello,
> 
> I am new to pen turning and have fond a way to keep the snakewood from cracking. It works 9/10 times:
> Hi,
> 
> I figured out how to stop the cracking. I drill using a drill press and do it incrementally so as not to overheat. I usually have 5 blanks that I drill at the same time, one after the other and keep going back to them.
> 
> Second I use epoxy on the tubes.
> 
> When I square the ends I use a rest 90 degress to a sander, i used to use a chuck and a jacobs but there was too much vibration
> 
> When I square off the ends I immediately like seconds afterwards drop some thin CA on those ends, one or two drops until it gets absorbed
> 
> I let it rest one day and put the blanks on a mandrel for a few minutes sometimes overnight, I have several loaded mandrels.
> 
> I use thin CA on my first pass, then several with the medium or thick
> 
> I actually had one start to crack but I put some thin CA and put thicker the next day and it worked fine and held
> 
> I have Gabon ebony, Az Desert Ironwood and snakewood. Ill specialize iun those
> 
> I am new here and could use some help to start a snakewood pen tunring post.
> 
> - dom1971




Dom welcome to the site. You can just start a new thread in the penturning section forum or you can reopen this older post like you just did. I commend you for having success with snakewood. But may I ask you how long have you been tracking the pens you made???  Snakewood is one of those woods that will develop cracks down the road. The thinner the blank the more chance of this. Not all snakewood blanks crack as well as Gabon Ebony or Pink Ivory and there are others. Alot of times it depends on where it was cut from on the tree or plant. Other factors such as how it was harvested and dried. How it was turned to fit the pen and so forth. One of those there is no right answer to scenarios. Good luck with your turnings and again welcome. Jump right in. Others will follow.


----------

