Curly Ebony!

[edi malinaric]

Hi All - just began making my violin's fingerboard. Sharp plane & straight-grained ebony - only a pleasure.

cheers edi

[JohnCockburn]

Hi All - just began making my violin's fingerboard. Sharp plane & straight-grained ebony - only a pleasure.

cheers edi

It's fun if you can find nice ebony billets.

The last batch I bought from Dick were useless: luckily managed to sell them on to a cabinet maker who likes stripy ebony with gnarly grain!

[Michael_Molnar]

I get great ebony blanks from Susan at Taylor - USA. She often has a booth at the VSA meetings.

[Christopher Jacoby]

I got lovely boards from Alex Ross(Cavallo) in Baltimore this last November.

[Matthias Lange]

It's fun if you can find nice ebony billets.

The last batch I bought from Dick were useless: luckily managed to sell them on to a cabinet maker who likes stripy ebony with gnarly grain!

Usually one out of ten is ok. I give the remaining nine to wood turners as pen blanks...

Matthias

[Don Noon]

The last batch I bought from Dick

I get great ebony blanks from Susan at Taylor - USA. She often has a booth at the VSA meetings.

I got lovely boards from Alex Ross(Cavallo) in Baltimore this last November.

And you must have gotten all of the documentation with it, specifying origin and species and all the other importer paperwork, to prevent the Lacey Act enforcers from confiscating and destroying it, right?

Yeah, right.

[jezzupe]

And you must have gotten all of the documentation with it, specifying origin and species and all the other importer paperwork, to prevent the Lacey Act enforcers from confiscating and destroying it, right?

Yeah, right.

Oh gee Don, thanks for the reminder of the "regime" now I have to puke just a little...which reminds me

very nice Edi, they are "wa'ffer thin"

Lacey act? don't think I could eat another bite

Its the land of the free, as long as you have the proper documents, lic#, insurance, fee's, permits, applications...oh and money...er debt, same thing, you know, if you buy into that kinda crap

[lyndon]

are you buying the premium grade from dick, i know internationals top grade at about 24usd is just fine....

[jacobsaunders]

are you buying the premium grade from dick, i know internationals top grade at about 24usd is just fine....

Dick is only a dealer. The fingerboards are actualy manufactured by Klier in Mörendorf (near Bubenreuth), so you could order directly there

http://www.klier-josef.de/

[JohnCockburn]

Dick is only a dealer. The fingerboards are actualy manufactured by Klier in Mörendorf (near Bubenreuth), so you could order directly there

http://www.klier-josef.de/

Hi Jacob, speaking for myself I was talking about unshaped ebony boards from dick, not shaped manufactured blanks, which I do get from jurgen and am very happy with. Maybe he also sells unshaped boards? Anyway, I decided life was too short.......

[Flyboy]

And you must have gotten all of the documentation with it, specifying origin and species and all the other importer paperwork, to prevent the Lacey Act enforcers from confiscating and destroying it, right?

Yeah, right.

Unless you're importing or exporting (i.e. dealing with customs agents), the government still has to establish probable cause to seize materials. That means the Feds has get a judge to sign off. In practice this means the government must have some form of evidence that you imported/exported illegally. If the government can't establish cause they won't be able to seize anything.

Think about what this means for a second. Say you buy some ebony fingerboard blanks at VSA (or some other domestic supplier). All you need to cover your butt is get an affidavit from the dealer stating that the wood was legally imported in accordance to the Lacey Act or CITES (if applicable). If your wood gets seized despite this affidavit, that means your dealer or somebody further up the supply chain screwed up royally. You then sue the dealer if you need to recover costs. You should think of this as a form of indemnification to the customer by the dealer.

If you source ebony from India or Germany (or from any other foreign country), then it is your responsibility to get the proper permits, Lacey Act documentation, procedures, & declarations in order so customs doesn't seize it. (No different from importing any other product.)

There's no need for histrionics.

[jacobsaunders]

Hi Jacob, speaking for myself I was talking about unshaped ebony boards from dick, not shaped manufactured blanks, which I do get from jurgen and am very happy with. Maybe he also sells unshaped boards? Anyway, I decided life was too short.......

Yes, I can't imagine ANYBODY in Bubenreuth beeing unwilling to seperate you from your money

[MikeC]

Its the land of the free, as long as you have the proper documents, lic#, insurance, fee's, permits, applications...oh and money...er debt, same thing, you know, if you buy into that kinda crap

That will go down as one of my favorite quotes

[Craig Tucker]

There's no need for histrionics.

Interesting quote considering...

Without histrionics, much, if not most, of Maestronet wouldn't exist!

[David Burgess]

If your wood gets seized despite this affidavit, that means your dealer or somebody further up the supply chain screwed up royally. You then sue the dealer if you need to recover costs.

So if I spend a bunch of time, and money on legal fees, I may be able to recover my 250 bucks, assuming that the dealer still has any assets after the government comes down on them too?

That's quite comforting, especially if the fingerboard is already on a completed instrument. If the instrument has already been sold, will the entire instrument be seized, or will my client be able to keep the violin to use, once the government has skillfully removed the fingerboard?

Should we also be requesting affidavits for pegs, tailpieces, upper nuts and saddles? How might I obtain affidavits for the fingerboard blanks in my inventory which I purchased 10 years ago, or how can I prove that these are the very same fingerboards listed on old receipts, as opposed to something purchased after the Lacey act kicked in?

I can see how the issue might appear quite simple and tidy, to one who is not actually a violin maker.

[Michael_Molnar]

And you must have gotten all of the documentation with it, specifying origin and species and all the other importer paperwork, to prevent the Lacey Act enforcers from confiscating and destroying it, right?

Yeah, right.

I have an import license. It took quite a lot of leg work to get one. (I posted that ordeal in a much earlier MN thread.)

Sometimes the wood comes through US Customs without any dated stamp of inspection and approval. I just file away the shipping documents (invoice, license certificates) just in case.

My reading of the law is that my responsibility ends with doing just that and nothing more - keeping my records. No big deal.

The Lacey Law IMHO has become a lightning rod for anti-government hysteria.

Stay Tuned.

Mike

[David Burgess]

Did having an import license, and keeping records protect Gibson or Nagel?

[Craig Tucker]

The Lacey Law IMHO has become a lightning rod for anti-government hysteria.

Stay Tuned.

Mike

You know that old saying -

"One mans anti-government hysteria, is another mans level-headed plea against omnipotent government control..."

[Flyboy]

You know that old saying -

"One mans anti-government hysteria, is another mans level-headed plea against omnipotent government control..."

If you think Lacey represents some form of "ominpotent government control" you should look at the alternatives, like Haiti. The island of Hispaniola consists of Haiti and Dominican Republic:

http://archive.org/details/SVS-2640

[Craig Tucker]

If you think Lacey represents some form of "ominpotent government control" you should look at the alternatives, like Haiti. The island of Hispaniola consists of Haiti and Dominican Republic:

http://archive.org/details/SVS-2640

So, that's what you got out of my post?

[jezzupe]

I have an import license. It took quite a lot of leg work to get one. (I posted that ordeal in a much earlier MN thread.)

Sometimes the wood comes through US Customs without any dated stamp of inspection and approval. I just file away the shipping documents (invoice, license certificates) just in case.

My reading of the law is that my responsibility ends with doing just that and nothing more - keeping my records. No big deal.

The Lacey Law IMHO has become a lightning rod for anti-government hysteria.

Stay Tuned.

Mike

Mike, there is no "government", there is a division of the central bank called "goverenment"

[Michael_Molnar]

You know that old saying -

"One mans anti-government hysteria, is another mans level-headed plea against omnipotent government control..."

Sounds like "truthiness" to me.

[Craig Tucker]

Sounds like "truthiness" to me.

It's the best I could come up with on short notice...

[MeyerFittings]

If you get boards from Taylor USA why would the Lacy Act concern you? I've never heard of anyone, especially small timers like us, being confiscated between States. Unless the boards are made of hashish of course.

[David Burgess]

If you get boards from Taylor USA why would the Lacy Act concern you?

Because as I understand it, the final purchaser is left holding the bag for the product having met legal requirements all the way through the supply chain. I trust Susan, but was she standing there, verifying that everything was legal, with the proper paperwork in place (in a foreign language and a foreign legal system) as the trees were cut down and processed? Or does she need to accept some things on faith herself?