EXOTIC WOOD

Exotic woods have long been favored by woodworking professionals for their rare beauty and striking good looks. Hardwoods like Teak, Ebony, Idigbo, Iroko, Sapele and other exotic lumbers make dramatic accents, edgings and inlays for virtually any woodworking project conceivable.

So, considering the relative popularity of exotic wood varieties, it's hard to believe just how difficult it is to actually locate the stuff. Through our company you can locate exotic woods and hardwood lumber products. Rest assured that our prices and delivery options are among the best in the business.

Teak
(Tectona grandis)

Variety
Hardwood

Other Names
Burma teak, Rangoon teak, moulmein teak, gia thi, jati sak, kyun, mai sak, rosawa.

Origin
Africa, Indonesia, India, and Central America.

Appearance
Straight grained generally with coarse, uneven texture, medium lustre and oily feel. Yellow brown to dark golden brown heartwood and greyish or white sapwood.

Physical Properties
Moderately hard and heavy, with low stiffness and shock resistance, moderate bending strength, moderate steam bending, and excellent decay resistance and dimensional stability. Good acid resistance.

Working Properties
Works reasonably well with hand or machine tools but silica in wood is tough on cutting edges and machine dust can be an irritant. Good turning and carving properties. Gluing is best done on freshly cut surfaces due to the oily nature of the wood. Pre-drilling recommended for screwing and nailing. Stains and finishes well although natural oils can cause adhesion difficulties.

Uses
Has numerous uses including ship building (especially decks), indoor or outdoor furniture, high class joinery, flooring, panelling, plywood, decorative veneers, turnery, carving, chemical tanks and vats.

African Padauk
(Pterocarpus soyauxii)

Variety
Hardwood

Other Names
Corail, African Coralwood, Muenge, Mututi, Ngula, Vermillion.

Origin
Central and West Africa.

Appearance
Straight to interlocked grain with a moderate coarse texture and large pores. Rich red to purple red heartwood and pale-beige sapwood.

Physical Properties
Hard, heavy, and strong with exceptional decay resistance and dimensional stability. Not suitable for steam bending.

Working Properties
Works well with hand and machine tools. Glues easily and holds nails and screws well. Finishes to a beautiful sheen without the need for stain.

Uses
Excellent turning wood - used for fancy turnery such as knife and tool handles. Also prized for high end cabinets, furniture, carving, veneer, inlay, flooring, dyewood, joinery, dowels, shuttles, spindles, paddles and boat building.

Bubinga
(Guibourtia Demeusei)

Variety
Hardwood

Other Names
African Rosewood, Essingang, Buvenga.

Origin
Africa.

Durability
Moderately durable. Dries easily with little degradation, although it will exude gum. Stable in use. Susceptible to attack by common furniture beetle. Heartwood is resistant to preservative treatment. Sapwood is permeable.

Working Properties
Works easily with hand or power tools. Reduced cutting angle recommended for interlocked grain. Moderate to severe blunting of cutters. Pre-drilling required for nailing. Low steam bending characteristics and extrication of gum pockets can be troublesome. Gluing can be difficult due to gum pockets. Stains easily and can be brought to an excellent finish.

Uses
Primarily used as a veneer for cabinetwork, furniture, and panelling. Also used for knife handles, and fancy goods.

Wenge
(Milletia Laurentii)

Variety
Hardwood

Other Names
Palisandre Du Congo, Dikela, Mibotu, Bokonge, Awong.

Origin
Africa.

Durability
Durable and resistant to termites. It is extremely resistant to preservative treatment.

Working Properties
The material works fairly well with machine tools and with moderate blunting effect on cutters. The presence of resin cells in the wood sometimes interferes with gluing and polishing. Nailing is difficult and requires pre-boring. When filled, it can be brought to a satisfactory finish.

Mechanical Properties
This heavy, dense wood has a high bending strength and high resistance to shock loads, with medium crushing strength and low stiffness. It has a low steam bending classification.

Uses
The high natural resistance to abrasion makes this timber very suitable for flooring strips or blocks. Also used for interior and exterior joinery and general construction work. It is an excellent turning wood. Sliced for decorative and panelling veneers.A high finish can be achieved.

Comments
Due to its weight, it is unsuitable for plywood manufacture.

African Ebony
(Diospyrus spp.)

Variety
Hardwood

Origin
Grows primarily in central to southern Africa. Includes varieties from Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Kribi, Gabon, Madagascar, and Zaire.

Appearance
Very fine texture with an indistinct grain and metallic lustre. Uniformly black heartwood and yellowish white sapwood.

Physical Properties
Very heavy, hard, strong, and stiff with high shock and decay resistance. Steam-bends reasonably well. Requires pre-drilling to nail or screw.

Working Properties
Works with some difficulty - tends to chip and quickly dulls cutting edges. Turns well. Finishes to a naturally dark polished surface.

Uses
Used for piano keys, musical instruments, turnery, inlay, novelties, billiard cues, brush backs, and cutlery handles.

Sapele
(Entandrophragma cylindricum)

Variety
Hardwood

Other Names
Sapele, Sapelli or Aboudikro.

Origin
Tropical Africa.

Uses
The heartwood is pink when freshly cut, but it matures to a red-brown or purple-brown colour. Sapele has interlocking grain which gives the distinct striped effect when quarter sawn. This commercially important wood is reminiscent of mahogany, with a distinctive figure, typically applied where figure is important. It is sought after as flooring for its durability and beautiful graining.

Among its more exotic uses is that in guitar manufacturing, in the top, back and sides of acoustic guitar bodies as well as the tops of electric guitar bodies. Late in the 90s, it started to be used as a board for Basque percussion instrument txalaparta on the strength of the livelier quality of the sound. It is also used by American car maker Cadillac for interior wood trim on its vehicles.

Iroko
(Chlorophora excelsa)

Variety
Hardwood

Other Names
African Teak. In much of the literature on this timber the names of the trees that yields it are given as Chlorophora excelsa and Chlorophora regia.

Origin
Tropical Africa.

Appearance
The Iroko is yellowish- brown timber deepening to dark brown with lighter markings, which are highlighted on the flat sawn face. It is similar in appearance to teak and less expensive but is not as durable.

Uses
The wood is used for a variety of purposes including boat-building, domestic flooring and furniture. From the late 90s, it was used as part of the txalaparta, a Basque musical instrument constructed of wooden boards, due to its lively sound.

Dense graining and high oil content make it quite durable for external use. Unlike teak but in common with most other timber, Iroko requires regular treatment with oil or varnish when used outdoors.

Idigbo
(Terminalia superba)

Variety
Hardwood

Other Names
(Superb Terminalia) or Limba, Afara (UK), Korina (US).

Origin
Tropical western Africa.

Further Info
This is a large tree in the family Combretaceae. It grows to 60 m tall, with a domed or flat crown, and a trunk typically clear of branches for much of its height, buttressed at the base.

Contrary to popular belief, it is not rare and expensive due to overharvesting and there is plenty of supply due to efforts in the 1950s to preserve natural supply of the wood. This species is reported to be relatively secure, with little or no threat to its population within its natural growth range, according to the World Conservation Monitoring Center in 1992.

Uses
The wood is either a light ('white limba') or with dark stripes ('black limba' or 'korina') hardwood. Used for making furniture and musical instruments and prized for its workability and excellent colour and finish. It is easy to work with hand and machine tools.

Zebrano

Variety
Hardwood

Other Names
(Superb Terminalia) or Limba, Afara (UK), Korina (US).

Origin
West Africa.

Appearance
Light gold in colour with dark brown, almost black strreaks. Finishes well.

Uses
Used for furniture work.