Wood from Panama

[Tim Thor]

I am going to be traveling to Panama shortly and am hoping to bring some turning blanks back with me. Does anyone know if it is ok to bring wood back form Panama and if anyone has travelled there do you know of a source to purchase blanks.
Thank you for any assistance you can provide

 

[olaf Vogel]

I think you have many variables
1 - transport. Some airlines might be a total pain - their enforcement is likely to be strict.
Your best solution here might be mailing the stuff home - the post office generally doesn't care. As long as its not a white powder....

2 - the type of wood. Best to check CITES for whats controlled. Keep in mind that a lot of this is very loosely enforced. Worst case, it gets impounded and you loose the shipment.

However, please don't interpret me as justifying the purchase of endangered species.

There are some absolutely spectacular types of wood in central and south America.
Costa Rica and Honduras has some gorgeous very dark, oily woods. Guanacaste is awesome, but controlled/endangered. You can buy wood from trees that have died naturally.

Venezuela had purpleheart logs that were huge and fantastic
You can buy anything there...but you might want to avoid that country right now...

Importing any of these might be a challenge due to CITES.

We've travelled a lot around central America and checked out a few woodturning shops.
Generally spectacular wood, but workmanship is mediocre

For a while, my wife wanted to move to Curacao, which has almost no wood.
So I'd have to import everything. Venezuela was my top pick.

For now, we're stuck in Canada and I'm stuck with much less exotic maple.
And its cold!

 

[Richard Coers]

I wouldn't try to bring anything back with bark on it. You have to address the possible import of bugs in the wood, plus endangered wood species.

 

[Bill Boehme]

I'm pretty sure that you can't do that without a lot of red tape. Even carrying wood across state lines is an issue for certain species. There is a serious danger of introducing new pests in imported wood. You probably don't want to be famous as the person who is to blame. I think buying imported wood through a dealer is a lot better and easier route.

 

[Lamar Wright]

I agree with Bill. His suggestion may be the best and safest.

 

[Tim Thor]

Thanks everyone for your guidance. It sounds like it would be a major hassle to bring the wood back. Was planning on avoiding endangered species. Just thought I could save some money but oh well will just have to enjoy the trip.
Tim

 

[Bill Boehme]

Things get complicated really fast. Unless you're completely obsessed with a block of wood, I can't imagine going through all the necessary requirements. I looked at the US Customs and Border Protection website and for starters the wood has to be treated (either heat or methyl bromide) and officially marked that it has been treated and has to be officially marked with country of origin and then there is the necessary paperwork. Here is a link to the USDA website for importing wood products. Then there are the excess baggage fees.

BTW, you can carry mesquite firewood across the border from Mexico to Texas and that is done a lot along the border. Not much of it winds up being turned.

 

[Perry Hilbert]

back in the late 1950's a guy near here imported by collecting and bring back several exotic species of plants for his nursery business. Unfortunately, he brought along something called mile a minute weed or alternatively, called tear thumb by locals. It is a highly invasive vine with small flesh tearing thorns on the vines. The stuff does grow up to 14 inches a day. and birds spread the seed. It covers low bushes and trees and kills them, sort of like Kudzu. Personally, I'd like to kill the SOB if he weren't already dead. There are a few other invasive species that the guy intentionally planted in parks and public areas around the area. We don't need anymore of these invasive plants, or bugs like gypsy moths, lantern flies, canker diseases etc. etc.

 

[Richard Coers]

I've read stories about companies importing solid wood doors of exotic wood. Something like 12/4 thick slab doors. In the US, they ripped the doors on the glue seams and sold the 12/4 stock. Much cheaper to import finished wood products than raw lumber. Could be a folk tale though. A close friend travels to Japan quite often for work. Good woodworking chisels are incredibly expensive in Japan, and difficult to find. On the internet, even eBay, they are easy to find and more reasonably priced.

 

[Emiliano Achaval]

I bring back wood from Argentina every time I go. Only requirement is no bark. And obviously weight limit... I fly American Airlines. I make sure there are no bug holes... Should be easy from Panama. Good luck.

 

[Bill Boehme]

I bring back wood from Argentina every time I go. Only requirement is no bark. And obviously weight limit... I fly American Airlines. I make sure there are no bug holes... Should be easy from Panama. Good luck.

Maybe there aren't any pests in Argentina. With many invasive pests such as the emeral ash borer, they are in the wood so it doesn't matter if the wood doesn't have bark. It may not be many years before we no longer have any ash trees.

 

[Perry Hilbert]

We lost our Chestnut trees, we have lost most of the elms, the gypsy moths kill off acres of oaks every year, the hemlocks are being killed by the hemlock wooly adelgid, ashes are disappearing fast due to the ash borer, now the black walnuts are dying due to a canker disease. We aren't even permitted to transport logs or firewood from one county to the next. We do not need another plague in the forests.