scrubs Posted July 5, 2015 Report Share Posted July 5, 2015 Has anyone ever ordered from this place? http://www.pebblelures.com/default.asp No hint of what wood they're made of. bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted July 6, 2015 Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 Never heard of them. It's strange that none of the descriptions say what species of wood is used. Looks like basswood, but??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gone2long Posted July 6, 2015 Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 In the about us section it appears to indicate maple but they worded it cryptic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted July 6, 2015 Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 I would go with basswood based on the description and the images of some of the lures. One of the cranks displays the characteristics of spalted basswood. It is not maple they just used maple colored to describe the wood tone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted July 6, 2015 Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 Who's going to be the first to email them? Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrubs Posted July 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 I sent them an email over the weekend. My guess would be that they are done in Asia of some local wood. Wish it was basswood tho. bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jdeee Posted July 6, 2015 Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 (edited) Maybe longhorned beetle wood I think if I was selling blanks I would be proud of the quality of the wood I was selling ? Edited July 6, 2015 by Jdeee 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted July 6, 2015 Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 Scrubs - If it is an Asian wood, this could be a good thing. I make all my cranks from a wood called albesia. It is heavier than the heavy balsas but still very light. The density of albesia varies, depending on which part of the tree it is cut, but my supply is usually around 0.24gm/cm³, which is 15Lb/cuft in American money. It is used as a cheap construction wood here in Indonesia, but it is also very good for carving, and any cheap carving imports that you might see are almost certainly going to be albesia. I have nothing bad to say about it, except that I have to inspect my timber closely for tiny holes, as worm is a big problem. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrubs Posted July 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 Jdeee, You may be right :-) One time in Jamaca we bought some woodcarvings from a street vendor. Next morning there was sawdust all over the hotel dresser. Dave, I spend some time on the Lure Lovers site from Australia and they use a lot of Asian timber. So there must be some good stuff there. I'll look your wood up. bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted July 6, 2015 Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 The choice of woods is quite amazing. I can buy meranti from three timber outlets within a mile of my house. I live next door to a wood shop Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrubs Posted July 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 (edited) You're lucky Dave. I got an answer from the company. They call it a tropical hardwood, "ivory wood". But there's like 50 different varieties in SA, Africa etc. So who knows. It's supposedly denser than basswood. bill Edited July 6, 2015 by scrubs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jdeee Posted July 7, 2015 Report Share Posted July 7, 2015 (edited) Bill I had a 40 ft container arrive from China about 15 years ago and it got seized because all the pallets the product was on were infested with longhorn beetles. I mean thousands of them. It cost me $4000.00 to fumigate the container with methyl Bromide. After that I only accepted goods on plastic pallets. Be careful with exotic woods that might have slipped through the inspection process. Not saying this company is involved in any wrong. Just a warning that if buying blanks from overseas companies or sellers beware about possible critters in the wood Like you said Bill if you ever see sawdust in a shipment, it's a really bad sign, burn it immediately along with the packing. One pregnant bug can wipe out an entire forest range and lumber industry Edited July 7, 2015 by Jdeee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted July 7, 2015 Report Share Posted July 7, 2015 I would be very cautious with "ivory" wood if they can't tell what species then crap shoot. Some of the ivory wood is very hard as in similar to ipe others more like oak. I also would be concerned base on country of origin as very unlikely there is any selected species and is just whatever is clear cut and brought in so now likely huge array of quality from chuck straight to the trash to great lure bodies to nice key chains. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted July 7, 2015 Report Share Posted July 7, 2015 I just did a search for ivory wood and could not find anything other than pink ivory. It is most unlikely to be pink ivory, as it is a protected species and very expensive. Also the pink ivory is very heavy at SG 0.9. If the company cannot be more specific about the type of wood and at least give us enough information to be able to do some armchair research, I don't think they can be trusted. This sounds OTT, but when I use a wood, I want to know everything about it. Perhaps give them one more chance. Send them a link to this thread and show them how their credibility is going down the drain. With the right reply, their sales could double instead of dwindling. Dave 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salty's Posted July 7, 2015 Report Share Posted July 7, 2015 Next time you call them ask why they're not paying Federal Excise tax. These guys are just another scumbag under the table business taking away from people who do it legit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrubs Posted July 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2015 Dave, Sent them a 2nd email yesterday asking for botanical name and specific gravity. Forgot to mention that some of the stuff is made in the US and some in India. bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted July 7, 2015 Report Share Posted July 7, 2015 If he is smart, he will make more of an effort this time. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted July 7, 2015 Report Share Posted July 7, 2015 If he is smart, he will make more of an effort this time.Dave I give too little credit to average consumer? If cheap enough and it has some sort of resemblance to fishing correctly they will be satisfied. Slap the work "clone" on it and the fact it was a lot cheaper than the (insert expensive lure) all is good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrubs Posted July 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2015 Well that's that. They answered and said they didn't have a botanical name and the specific gravity "was probably around .5 or so" I'll stick with Janns, LPO and hand carves. I was hoping to get crank blanks in a basswod-ish wood. BTW, nobody's perfect. I saw a site where on one page blanks were listed as cedar. Next page just called them wood. Final ordering page said they were pine. He did answer and say he'd correct the site. Said they were "some sort of pine". bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted July 7, 2015 Report Share Posted July 7, 2015 That's not a good sign when a dealer claims he doesn't know what he's selling. Makes me wonder what other information he isn't willing to share. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 Well that is unfortunate, but I am not going to slap the company down. They are based in USA, which has to be a big plus for you guys for a start. The prices are amazing, especially for non-concentric lures requiring a duplicator machine. The only way that I could match those prices, is with orders in excess of 2,000 per month. Then I could train up a local to take care of the production. Peble also offer a service were they will do custom shapes. This would mean hand carving and preparing a new master to your design. It would be interesting to know the minimum production numbers for this service. The production is likely in Mexico, the closest place with low enough wages to achieve the numbers. If you want US wood blanks or blanks cut by me personally, you would have to pay at least $5 per piece. Regardless of the wood knowledge, I would say the price is right and the blanks do look very good. Well worth a shot and report back. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonister Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 It might be worth it to buy a couple peices of wood stock and take it to a university or place likewise and get it tested. It would be cool to see what it really is. Im really careful about where i get wood from and i try to stay local just because de-forestation is a very real and illegal thing that i do not want to be a part of. i dont know about you guys but Im a very careful person when it comes to my wood . hahaha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 (edited) Jonister - I am very much of the same mind. What I see going on in Indonesia is quite frightening. This is why I stick to the common woods; albesia for lures and meranti for heavier stuff. I don't get involved in the rare species that are on offer. Dave Edited July 8, 2015 by Vodkaman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonister Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 I googled both woods but cant seem to find albesia for sale. i just like getting prices and such. I see many sites offering "cheap" or "discounted" prices on exotic woods. I would only trust liscenced sources that state how and where they obtained them, but even then i still stay local. In my area we have many companies that farm trees such as cedar, pine, and douglas fir. This is done in a way that it is a renewable rescource, and the law makes it so that there is always a riparian zone for the wildlife and that the companies must re-plant. I know though that there is illegal logging taking place where they do none of this and take very rare slow growing trees, so i just try hard to avoid these rare woods. I would also hate for customs to give me a call telling me i bought illegal protected wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 Albesia is probably considered not worth exporting, it is light and cheap. But the fact that it is light, cheap and carves well, makes it ideal for lure building. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
