Gilmer Wood Company

Information may not be reliable

A species of Olive from South Africa. Very rarely seen on the commercial timber market. It is similar in color to the European species but seems denser and harder. Much of what we just received has a beautiful curly figure. Boards range in thickness from 1" to 3". We can custom cut clear blanks or billets for knife handle, pool cue handles, guitar parts, etc. Green to partially air-dried.

These two species are increasingly becoming hard to get. This is some of the nicest colored and grained stock we have received in a long time. Custom cutting into blanks is no problem.

This wood has gained in popularity since the early 1990's when Brazilian Rosewood was designated an endangered species. Furniture manufacturers used it as a Brazilian Rosewood substitute but it stands on its own as an instrument tone wood. Very fine-grained and takes an extremely high polish. Kiln-dried.

click on photo for close-up
These came directly from the West African bush. These rough cut billets are cut in the forest and carried out by hand to the nearest road where they are first graded (these are best quality billets) and then coated with a sealer to keep any checking to a minimum before being trucked to market. These were cut in 2007/2008 and are partially air-dried. This Ebony is easy to mill (it even hand planes quite nicely). It is generally black but can have some light striping or color streaks. Our advice is to mill these billets into lumber, turning squares, instrument fingerboards, bridge blanks, pegheads, parts for model ships & cars, parts for architectural models, etc., and then air-dry them to equilibrium (6-12% moisture content depending on your part of the world). For a reasonable milling fee we can flatten a face and an edge (after weighing) to make them easier for you to handle and re-saw.
$5.00/lb., 3 or more billets $4.00/lb.

This very dense, hard W. African species, sometimes erroneously called African Rosewood, takes a beautiful polish and is very stable in service. Widths are 4-8" and the lengths are 40-42". The unit contains a mix of grains, i.e. quartersawn to flatsawn. Kiln-dried. Special price of $6.00/bf is for a minimum of 5 board feet selected as it comes off the top of the unit pictured. Special pulls for width, length, color, or grain or quantities larger than 50 bf please contact us for price quotes.

Most Wenge comes from the interior of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), and is floated to market on the Congo river. It is fairly hard and heavy with a medium to coarse texture. The heartwood is very dark brown with fine, nearly parallel black veining. Very rich looking when finished. Widths are 5-12" and the lengths are 48-60". The unit contains a mix of grains, i.e. quartersawn to flatsawn. Kiln-dried. Special price of $12.00/bf is for a minimum of 5 board feet selected as it comes off the top of the units pictured. Special pulls for width, length, color, or grain or quantities larger than 50 bf please contact us for price quotes.

Age-old favorite for blanket chests, closet liners, and carving. The heartwood is a reddish-brown with a very aromatic "cedar" scent and the sapwood is whitish. These boards are typical being a common grade with lots of knots. Widths are 3-6" and the lengths are 80-96". The units contain mostly flatsawn boards. Kiln-dried. Special price of $4.00/bf is for a minimum of 10 board feet selected as it comes off the top of the units pictured. Special pulls for width, length, color, or grain or quantities larger than 50 bf please contact us for price quotes.

This West African species is hard and heavy with a very chatoyant luster. The color varies from a rich, golden brown to a lustrous grayish brown usually with a black stripe. Widths are 3-8" and lengths are 18-72". The unit contains a mix of grains, i.e. quartersawn to flatsawn. Kiln-dried. Special price of $4.00/bf is for a minimum of 15 board feet selected as it comes off the top of the unit pictured. Special pulls for width, length, color, or grain or quantities larger than 50 bf please contact us for price quotes.

One of the lightest weight commercial hardwoods. Our stock weighs approximately 10-12 lbs. Per cubic foot. Great for model makers, break-away furniture, surfboards, solid-body guitar cores, etc. Dimensions are 1 ½-3" thick x 2 ¾-5" wide x 48-50" long. Kiln-dried. Special price of $8.00/bf is for a minimum of 5 board feet selected as it comes off the top of the units pictured. Special pulls for width, length, color, or grain or quantities larger than 50 bf please contact us for price quotes.

This Palm is from Indonesia. In the past this wood has been known as Porcupinewood, either for the long, reddish, hard fibers running throughout, or by the prickly nature of its splinters. The end-grain has a unique, distinctive, 'snake skin' appearance. Widths are 3-5" and lengths are 72-90". Well air-dried (old stock-cut in the 1990's). Special price of $6.00/bf is for a minimum of 10 board feet selected as it comes off the top of the units pictured. Special pulls for width, length, color, or grain or quantities larger than 50 bf please contact us for price quotes.

click on photo for close-ups and other lumber pile
For every clear board of Mesquite that is produced the mill ends up with 10 or twenty boards that look like these. Lots of defects, i.e. checks and knots, but one can still mill lots of clear turning squares and short and narrow boards from these common grade boards and billets. 1-3" thick by 3" and wider x random lengths. By the board at $3.00/bf or by the unit at $1.50/bf.