Sapele Mahogany
Durability: Durable
Colour: Dark
Sizes available: 25, 40, 50, 75 mm
| Trade Name: | Sapele |
| Botanical Species: | Entandrophragma cylindricum |
| Other Names: | Sapele Mahogany |
| Country of Origin: | West Africa |
| Air Dry Density: | 640kgs/m³ |
| Durability: | Durable |
| Strength: | SD5 |
| Seasoning: | ||
| • | Requires care in kiln drying to avoid distortion and degrade. | |
| Characteristics: | ||
| • | The wood is medium hard and medium weight. | |
| • | Planed surfaces are mildly lustrous. | |
| • | The heartwood is pinkish-red when freshly cut, darkening to a rich red-brown. | |
| • | The most striking feature is the double spiral grain which produces a very regular stripe or rose figures in quarter sawn material. | |
| • | The texture is fine and even and there is a pronounced cedar-like smell when freshly cut. | |
| Working Qualities: | ||
| • | Saws easily and cleanly with little waste and works fairly easily with hand and machine tools although the interlocked grain may be troublesome in planning and moulding. | |
| • | To eliminate picking up quarter sawn material, the cutting angle should be reduced to 15°. | |
| • | Takes nails and screws and glues well. | |
| • | It takes a high polish. | |
| Uses: | ||
| • | Gifted with both strength and appearance, the timber has a wide range of uses. | |
| • | It is used for furniture, paneling, shop and window fittings, high class interior joinery and all general cabinet working purposes, including boat building. | |
| • | Widely used for decorative veneering, it is often sliced to show the narrow ‘pencil’ stripe which is a characteristic of the species. | |
| • | It is also used for rotary cut plywood. | |
| Product Attributes: | ||
| • | A pinkish red to dark rich red brown timber. | |
| • | Stains readily and takes an excellent polish. | |
| • | Veneers available. | |
| • | It is fairly close textured with interlocked grain. | |
| • | Machines well with care. | |
| • | Quarter sawn timber produces a regular striped effect. | |
