For your information: If you are looking for lumber in Taiwan… this list will be helpful.
Acacia (Koa or its variants): 相思木 (xiang1 si1 mu4)
Maple: 楓木 (feng1 mu4)
Ebony: 黑檀木 (hei tan mu) I can’t seem to find gaboon ebony here… all I managed to find is Macassar ebony, which is fine because it looks better than gaboon ebony but most instruments uses gaboon ebony so if I need to do repair work, I have to use gaboon. Please let me know if anyone have a source of gaboon ebony in Taiwan.
Walnut: 胡桃木 (hutao mu)
Mahogany: 桃花心木 (tao hua xin mu)
Rosewood: 玫瑰木 (meigui mu), precede with country of origin (like India) for specific species.
Bubinga: 花梨木 (huali mu) I am not sure about this but from what I can tell the look matches, and the English translation says “african rosewood” which is basically what bubinga is also known as… this wood is relatively plentiful in Taiwan… search for it on yahoo auctions.
Padouk: 紅酸枝 (hong suan zhi)
Oak (any kind… precede with color): 象木 (xiang mu) in Chinese literally means “elephant wood”, not sure why
Sandalwood: 紫檀木 (zhitan mu) I thought this means purpleheart at first… but it turns out it’s sandalwood. Quite common because a lot of idols are made from this wood… and since Taiwanese loves worshiping idols…
Beech: 山毛櫸木 (shanmaojumu) Looks like oak, a lot of wooden planes are made of this…
Cypress: 檜木 (kuai mu)
This list is far from complete… if I made an error let me know. Its very helpful if anyone wants to buy wood in Taiwan because a lot of wood-dealers do not know English that well. Things like pine and lauan are everywhere, no need to look anywhere special for those.
These guys sell tools and things like that but also have some wood turning blanks (mostly). Just know that their prices for some things are higher than a mom and pop hardware store… but they also carry things that a mom and pop store never heard of (like cam clamps)
This seller sells a lot of wood, I bought some macassar ebony fretboard and bridge blank from them.
There are others on yahoo auctions. I know of a guitar wood supplier in Chaiyi but they mostly supply woods to other businesses. Seems that’s how the entire wood trade is like in Taiwan… I am sure there are mom and pop stores that have wood but they are very spotty… if you come to them with this list most likely they have never heard of any of those wood and they claim they have been in business for over 30 years… small world they live in.
Thank you Taiwan Luthiers for these links.
They concluded 3 good weeks of search, visits on the other side of the city and dozens of unwanted cups of tea before being told ‘Sorry, we don’t have that tool’…
Does anyone know where I can get old boards from the sides of Japanese architecture? Like, the old black stuff… would like to make some upcycled furniture.
