Exotic Woods Trading

BOTANICAL NAMES

Entandrophragma cylindricum – Entandrophragma rula –

Entandrophragma tomentosum – Pseudocedrala cylindrica

 

FAMILY

Member of the Meliaceae family

 

COMMERCIAL NAMES

Sapelli – France
Sapelli mahagoni – Germany
Sapele – England
Sapelli, mogano Sapelli – Italy

 

NATIVE NAMES

Bouboussou, bibite, lotue – Ivory Coast
Assi, dilolo – Gabon
Penkwa – Ghana
Ubilesan – Nigeria
Assie – Cameroon
Lifaki, Libuyu, Bobwe – Zaire

 

SPECIES APPLICATIONS/ USES

CONSTRUCTION – DIY – INTERIOR DOORS – EXTERIOR DOORS – FURNITURE – WINDOWS – PARQUET – TOOLS – PANELS – VENEER – JOINERY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RANGE

Sapele is commonly found from the Ivory Coast to Ghana, and from Nigeria to Cameroon and the eastern regions of the Republic of Congo and Uganda.

 

TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Sapwood and heartwood are well demarcated. While the sapwood is reddish grey, the heartwood has a warm red-brown color with golden flecks. The heartwood is pink when freshly cut, but it matures to a red-brown or purple-brown colour. Exposed to the air, it tends to darken significantly. 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. The wood is hard, of average density, with a fine texture and wavy grain. It is also quite resistant to attacks by parasitic pests.

 

DRYING

Kiln-drying must be carried out very slowly

 

SPECIFIC WEIGHT

With a moisture content of 12%, the specific weight ranges from 600 to 650 kg per cubic meter.

 

PRINCIPAL USES AND PROCESSING TECHNIQUES

Sapele is easy to work and takes a perfect finish after polishing. It is an excellent wood for natural and rotary cut veneers, and is thus much in demand by the plywood industry. It is also suitable for fine carpentry work and greatly valued by the furniture industry. 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.