Any good sales on tonewoods?

[Dave Bagwill]

Have you seen any recent sales on back/side wood? I'm on the prowl for any of the usual suspects - rosewoods, walnuts, some bocote would be nice etc.
If you've run across anything, please let me know.
Thx

[John Link]

Aaron Hix, a maker, sells lots of wood on eBay, much of it at unreserved auction, starting at $19.99. I bid that or slightly more and have "won" a lot of well quartered, very fine Wenge that LMI sells for $120 a set. I've also gotten a number of other species (Pau Ferro, Honduran Mahogany, Black Limba, Goncalo Alves, and others). I get outbid most of the time, but he offers so much, sometimes I connect. I simply bid low and walk away. (Right now he has over 50 items up for auction in his store.) His wood is always very dry, straight, flat, well cut, and he shrink wraps each set entirely before shipping in well packed boxes. Search for ahix1176 or A. Hix tonewoods.

[Dave Bagwill]

Outstanding, thanks.

[Tim Benware]

Aaron Hix, a maker, sells lots of wood on eBay, much of it at unreserved auction, starting at $19.99. I bid that or slightly more and have "won" a lot of well quartered, very fine Wenge that LMI sells for $120 a set. I've also gotten a number of other species (Pau Ferro, Honduran Mahogany, Black Limba, Goncalo Alves, and others). I get outbid most of the time, but he offers so much, sometimes I connect. I simply bid low and walk away. (Right now he has over 50 items up for auction in his store.) His wood is always very dry, straight, flat, well cut, and he shrink wraps each set entirely before shipping in well packed boxes. Search for ahix1176 or A. Hix tonewoods.

I guess sometimes it's the luck of the draw. I bought two sets at different times from him and both were warped so badly I could not use them for their intended purpose. Never bought anymore from him since.

[John Link]

Interesting variation of experience, Tim. I've purchased over 20 sets, and every one has been flawless, despite my practice of paying very little.

[John Link]

I should add that Wenge, my fave, tends to be a very stable wood in the first place and that I don't bid unless it (or whatever I am bidding on) is represented as quartered. Wenge has a marked ring about it, but apparently is not "liked " by many because of its lack of dramatic grain, though the color is an interesting true chocolate.

Everything I've purchased from Hix that he represents as quartered has been, almost perfectly so, as in >80 degrees minimum and most approaching 90 degrees. Some wood sellers will call it quartered if the angle is 50 degrees.

I have noticed some of his figured wood appears to be slabbed, at least in large portion, which would increase its chances of warping, twisting, etc. Brian Burns has done some interesting experiments that suggest quartered wood is not always stiffer than rift-sawed or slabbed, even, but quartered sure is more stable.

Sorry for your bad luck, Tim.

[Jim Ebert]

I have purchased wood from Hix twice. While the wood is "dry" it has both times come with a relative moisture content that is higher than the environment where I live. I only humidify the shop while I am working and my wood is stored in a humidified closet, so when I unpackaged the wood the RH was in the teens or lower. The first set almost immediately started to warp when I unwrapped the cellophane and the 2nd set did as well only not quite as quickly. I stickered them with a good amount of weight for about a week and they were fine after that. I think the problem is that the wood comes from Georgia which has a much higher RH and when it hits the desiccating environment where I live it just don't like it. I will purchase more wood from him in the future. I am still on the prowl for some of that Pau Ferro.
Jim.