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I'm moving to Nicaragua in two weeks for at least a year. I don't know yet how I'll be employed. I hope to teach in an English-language immersion school, but there are no guarantees that a job will be available. With that uncertainty I've been pondering other ways to make some kind of a living. One idea that occurred to me was attempting to become a small-time wood supplier. I need to do some research on CITES and it would take me awhile to ensure that any trade I participated in was environmentally ethical...but it could definitely happen. Am i nuts? Would there be any market/need?

Any insight would be appreciated, as always.

Andy

i think most of the ziricote comes from nicaragua, and cocobolo too. if you could find good quality supplies of those a good prices i think you could sell it easily.crazymanmichael38559.0961689815

Andy,

Other woods to look for are Katalox (Swartzia cubensis) and Jabin (Piscidia communis). When I had my teeny-tiny exotic lumber company (selling Rainforest Alliance certified Smartwood, mostly from Mexico), the Katalox and Jabin had the most promise as tonewoods, among the "lesser-known" species that I carried. (They both have a high-pitched *ring* when tapped.)

A number of other lesser-known species from that area would probably make guitars at least as good as Maple or Walnut. Many tropical species show some degree of "ribbon", "mottle", or "bees-wing" figure when quartersawn, due to the interlocked grain. There are thousands of species of trees that are not utilized, or are underutilized. Use of these lesser-known species takes the pressure off of the well-known species.

If you are serious about "environmentally ethical" harvesting practices, I recommend that you contact the Rainforest Alliance about their Smartwood program. That program takes great pains to certify not only environmentally sound timber extraction, but also assures that the local people are treated ethically (similar to "fair trade" practices.)

If I had $100K to invest, I would be taking frequent trips to Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua to oversee the milling and selection of luthier-quality hardwoods. My one big mistake with my exotic lumber company was not focusing on a specific "vertical market" for the lumber. There are certainly enough luthiers that would be interested in buying wood that meets their acoustic and aesthetic needs, with an internationally recognized pedigree of environmental and humanitarian certification.

This is one of my dreams that will never come true for me. Maybe you can make it happen.

Best of luck in your Nicaraguan adventure, and ventures!

Dennis

_________________
Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia

I would also be very careful who you deal with...Back in the late 70's through early 80's I had a business importing exotic hardwoods and would timber cruise through Honduras, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. I was shot at (literally), swindled, and often mislead but it was a very exciting experience. I stopped only because I met the woman who became my wife (of 21 years) and decided to settle down.

There are alot of unknown species of wood that are really nice but unknown in the US...without alot of good information it is easy to be sold a wood that raw looks very similar to a wood you may know but have very different properties.

Local names for wood can be very confusing and often contradictory. You may want to send samples back to the US to verify the species. Understand what the local laws and regulations are regarding exporting. Some countries want at least something done to the wood before it can be exported.

I started up a sawmill in Guyana years ago that still exists today and the requirement there was that logs could not be exported but that if the logs were sawn into boards, they are now a secondary wood product so they could be exported as local labor had added value by sawing.

Keep in mind that the closer you get to the tropics the tougher it will be to dry and stabilize the wood. This is doubly true if you will be sawing wood into luthier dimensions, otherwise you will end up with wood that will curl like a potato chip.

Focusing on a specific market is good advice. There are so many really great woods that we have never seen but until a market is developed for it selling it could be tough. While most luthiers will try an experimental guitar of an alternative wood, customers usually have a preconcieved notion of what a guitar should look like but they cant and shouldnt all be Brazilian Rosewood with Adirondack spruce tops...

Good luck in your new adventure...

[QUOTE=DennisLeahy]This is one of my dreams that will never come true for me. Maybe you can make it happen.
[/QUOTE]


It's never too late to be what you might have been..." George Eliot

My favorite quote.

I spent two years in Panama many years ago and recall seeing locally produced furniture in absolutely spectacular woods I'd never heard of. I know from many hours of swinging a machete that a great many of those woods are VERY HARD.

Learning how to start a business in that part of the world without trustworthy local help would be very daunting.

The cocobolo that comes from there is really nice. I like it better than the Mexican cocobolo I've used. That may not work as a general rule, but the Nic Coco I have is really really nice. I met a guy once who will buy up a bunch of the more rare species while in other country on business trip, and ship it back in a large container. Then he takes it to places that sell wood and wholesales it to them. He makes some good money doing that. He had a bunch of African Blackwood logs when I met him. I wish I had bought some then! This might be a good idea for you to try.

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

As for traveling to another country to do business..language barriers are always the first thing to overcome. Then there is the issue of doing business on their terms. They just don't think like we do...MANY JUST DON'T GET IT. Then you have to understand their legal system if you don't want to wind up in their prison system. And not to discourage you but, many americans come to Brazil thinking they are going to teach english and make enough money to survive on only to find disappointment in the pay scale as compared to the american incomes. There are many things to consider when in an alien environment. But, it's a great learning experience and who knows..you just might find that pot of gold. I wish you all the best. I have found much pleasure among traveling the rocky path in Brazil. GOOD LUCK...FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS. They are what keep us going.

I appreciate your insight. The language barrier will be an issue for a few months (maybe longer) while I try to catch up to my wife in Spanish proficiency and Nicaragua's government and legal system are notoriously unpredictable. We've been saving since we got married with this move in mind so we'll be ok for at least a couple years with no income at all...so if we can get rice and bean money out of teaching jobs, so much the better. This is a bit of a pipe dream for now it's just something I'd like to pursue once I'm comfortable in the country and see what opportunities there are.

Andy