Dalbergia sissoo of the family Fabaceae (syn. Leguminosae) the legume, pea, or bean family. Native to in Southeast Asia and the Middle East but also grows in Florida. Other names include Florida rosewood and shisham wood. Unfortunately, it ALSO is sometimes called "East Indian rosewood", which is bad because that name is MUCH more commonly applied to Dalbergi latifolia, a related but distinct wood. I have even seen vendors who lump Dalbergia sissoo in with Dalbergia latifolia, as though they were the same wood, which they most emphatically are not. Dalbergia sissoo is a nice wood, but it does not get anything like the color variety found in Dalberia latifolia.
my samples: NOTE: these pics were all taken in very bright incandescent lighting ("soft white" at 2700K) colors will vary under other lighting conditions
both sides of a sample plank of sissoo rosewood / Dalbergia sissoo --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of sissoo / Dalbergia sissoo --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of sissoo rosewood / Dalbergia sissoo --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a seasoned plank of sissoo rosewood (Florida rosewood) / Dalbergia sissoo --- HUGE enlargements are present. This seasoned plank and the unseasoned plank directly below were loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. Because of the seasoning and because the surfaces are much smoother (due to processing), this piece shows up as noticeably darker than the unseasoned piece.
both end grains and one end grain closeup of the piece directly above
two face grain sections, in closeup, of the piece directly above. The color appears lighter in these closeups than in the distance shot of the whole face because of the very close, very bright light used to take these closeups.
both sides of an unseasoned plank of sissoo rosewood (Florida rosewood) / Dalbergia sissoo --- HUGE enlargements are present. This unseasoned piece and the seasoned piece directly above were loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. Because of the seasoning and because the surfaces are much smoother (due to processing), the seasoned piece above shows up as noticeably darker than this one but even this one is darker than the raw wood would be because of the moisture content
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides and the end grain of the piece directly above after it had dried for a year and had the first face fine sanded. As you can see, the color is lighter since the excess moisture left. Why this piece is so much lighter than the unseasoned piece up above the unseasoned version of this piece, I do not know. Perhaps the year long exposure to the air caused the wood to lighten up.
small sample plank and end grain closeups from it and others of the batch directly below
END GRAIN UPDATE of one of the pieces directly above --- not one of my better updates
both sides of a sample plank of sissoo rosewood. HUGE enlargements are present.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
batch of small pieces obtained from a sawyer in Florida. Note the difference in color of the one in the upper left corner. I left that one unsanded so you can see the patina that it takes on when rough-sawn (the darker color on the ends is wax)
Here's the same set of pieces (but not always the same face of each piece) but all sanded to 320 grit. This pic was taken two years after the one above and I note that the purple tint is now mostly gone.
both sides of a sample plank sold to me as India rosewood / Dalbergia sissoo --- the fairly dull color of this piece would be enhanced by finer sanding, and greatly enhanced by a finishing agent.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above --- despite some sanding scratches on the left side, this update still shows the fine grain detail quite nicely in the middle and right areas.
All of the following pics of sissoo rosewood were contributed to the site by Jonathan Bluestein whom I thank. Thanks to Jonathan's excellent photography, HUGE enlargements are present for all the pics.
log end and a couple of rounded billets
a billet mounted on the lathe then turned down to an almost complete sphere and then the sphere. The 3rd pics was, I believe, shot in a different light which accounts for the apparent change in color (but it might have a finishing agent on it)
web pics:
planks
slabs, a closeup, and a log end, all from the Florida sawyer Funktionhouse who provided the samples I show at the top of the page. The pic on the left has an incorrect purplish tint.
slabs, also from Funktionhouse, shown both front and back. On the front pic, the middle 3 slabs have been moistened for the pics
table and chair set listed as shisham wood / dalbergia sissoo --- pics provided by SR Murthy whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. Both levels of enlargement are present.
barette with sapwood
stool
cutting board listed as sheesham
salad servers
vase still on the lathe, rough turned. This was labled sissoo, but based on the large amount of light-colored wood (presumably sapwood) I am not sure it IS sissoo.
boxes made from Florida-grown Dalbergia sissoo. Both levels of enlargement are present.
two views of a bowl
bowl
vase listed as sissoo / Dalbergia sissoo
a particularly beautiful vase of sissoo rosewood that takes marvelous advantage of the sapwood
book matched pair of Sissoo rosewood crotch pieces ready for use as a guitar back. Boy howdy, that is going to be one beautiful guitar (and likely very expensive too)
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