28 Mar
2012
28 Mar
'12
3:56 p.m.
On 28 Mar 2012 at 23:28, Rob Jarratt wrote:
A Dalbergia latifolia grows up to 40m high with a
girth of up to 2m
and is harvested after 30-40 years
(http://www.worldagroforestrycentre.org/sea/Products/AFDbases/af/asp/S
pecies Info.asp?SpID=1726). Let's assume it is 2m girth all the way
from top to bottom to account for the branches. That is a radius of
0.63m, for a cylindrical volume of about 50 cubic metres for one tree.
Let's say that one person wants a piece of rosewood that is 50cm x
50cm x 1cm. That is 0.0025 cubic metres, so a single fully grown tree
would satisfy 20,000 people once a year.
I take it that you aren't employed as a sawyer. A lot of the exotics
do not grow in a straight pole as, say, Douglas-fir. Inherent flaws
in the wood, checking during drying and the undesirability of sapwood
all contribute to waste--and there is a lot of it in hardwoods,
particularly when you're after nice clean blemish-free dimensional
planks.
You may want to do some research on yields before you do your
figuring. This stuff ain't PVC that you can squirt out in any shape
or length. An awful lot of rosewood goes into small pieces, such as
pen casings, fretboards and small flutes and headjoints.
A good website on rosewoods, real and otherwise:
http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/_discussion_rosewoods.
htm
--Chuck