Species data
Cocobolo
Dalbergia retusa - a hardwood from central America. Also sold as cocabola, cocobola.
Properties at a glance
| Janka hardness | 2,960 lbf |
| Stiffness (MOE) | 2,712,000 psi |
| Specific gravity | 1.10 |
| Density | 68.6 lb/ft3 (1,100 kg/m3) |
| Weight per board foot | 5.72 lb |
| Shrinkage, green to oven-dry | 4.3% tangential / 2.7% radial |
| Indicative price | $45.00 per board foot (estimated) |
Values are at about 12% moisture content. Density is specific gravity times 62.4; a board foot is one twelfth of a cubic foot, so weight per board foot is that density divided by twelve. Anything marked estimated is our own figure, not a measured one.
How Cocobolo compares
Measured against the 113 solid woods in this database: it is harder than 94% of them, heavier than 98%, and stiffer than 94%. Hard enough to be tough on edges and on machinery. At this density a full sheet or a long board gets heavy fast; check the shelf-sag and weight tools before you size anything.
What that means in the shop
A 4/4 board 8 inches wide and 8 feet long is 5.33 board feet, so in Cocobolo it weighs about 30.5 lb. A stack of ten is 305 lb - worth knowing before you load a rack or a car.
Against red oak, the trade's usual yardstick at 1,220 lbf, Cocobolo is about 2.4x as hard and 1.57x as heavy.
Its shrinkage is 4.3% tangential against 2.7% radial, a ratio of 1.6 to 1. The wider that ratio, the more unevenly a flatsawn board moves across its width as humidity changes, and the more it wants to cup; anything near or above 2 to 1 is worth quartersawing or restraining for panels and wide tops. This one moves comparatively evenly.
Woods of similar hardness
Closest to Cocobolo on hardness in this database: Bloodwood (2,900 lbf), Gaboon Ebony (3,080 lbf), Massaranduba (3,130 lbf), Olivewood (2,710 lbf). Similar hardness does not mean similar behaviour - check density and movement before substituting one for another.
Working with it
Workability. Tough work: heavy oils impede gluing, pigment bleeds while finishing, interlocked grain tears, and dust is famously allergenic
Durability. Very durable; its natural oils strongly resist insects and repeated wet/dry cycling
Typical uses. fine furniture, musical instruments, turned objects, knife handles, specialty items.
Related calculators
Sources
MOE, SG (12% MC), Janka and shrinkage from The Wood Database (cites USDA FPL Wood Handbook). Not in the FPL/Hoadley dimensional-change table, so movement coefficients are omitted. Uses, region, durability, workability summarized from The Wood Database. Price indicative.
These calculators are for planning and estimation. Engineering results (shelf sag, wood movement) use published average material properties; real boards vary by grade, grain, moisture and defects. Verify load-bearing designs with a professional.