Sapele (Plain Sawn)

When newly cut, the heartwood is pink, but this darkens to a red-brown or purple-brown on exposure. The sapwood is clearly defined and is white to pale yellow. The grain is moderately interlocked or wavy, with a moderately fine texture and a high golden lustre. The wood can exhibit an attractive range of figure, with ribbon, bee's-wing and regular stripe on quartersawn stock, and fiddleback, mottle or roe on other cuts.

Properties:

Sapele has medium resistance to shock loads, medium bending strength, high crushing strength, low stiffness and poor steam-bending properties. It works well with both hand and machine tools, with a moderate blunting effect on cutting edges. Sapele planes and moulds easily, but interlocked grain can tear if a reduced cutting angle is not used. It bores, routs, carves, nails, screws, stains, varnishes and paints well, and sands very well. The wood glues fairly well, and can be brought to an excellent polished finish.

Seasoning:

The wood dries slowly but well, though there can be large variations in drying rates. There is small movement in use.

Durability:

It is very durable and resistant to termites and fungi. The sapwood is vulnerable to the powder-post beetle. The heartwood is highly resistant to preservative treatment, the sapwood moderately so.Typical useDomestic, outdoor and office furniture, joinery, flooring, kitchen cabinets, harbour work, boat and ship building, oars, decking, laboratory benches, vats, plywood and decorative veneers.

Entandrophragma cylindricum (Meliaceae)

Also called:

scented mahogany, sapele mahogany, aboudikro, penkra, sapelewood, sapelli

Grows:

Burma (Myanmar), India, Indonesia, Thailand and Java; also Malaysia, Borneo, Philippines, Central American and tropical Africa

Weight per Board Foot:

3.2 lbs

Typical dry weight:

39lb/ft3 (620kg/m3)

Specific Gravity:

.62

Typical Height:

130-150ft (39-45m)

Trunk Diameter:

3-5ft (0.9-1.5m)