Data Sheets and Wood Descriptions

Exotic Woods from Around the World

About African Padauk A hardwood grown primarily in Central and West Africa. Other names include Barwood, Comwood, Corail, African Coralwood, Muenge, Mbe, Mbil, Mututi, Ngula, Vermillion, and Yomo. It's appearance is straight to interlocked grain with a moderately coarse texture and large pores. Rich red to purple red heartwood and pale-beige sapwood. Physical properties include hard, heavy, and strong with exceptional decay resistance and dimensional stability. Not suitable for steam bending. As far as working properties, Padauk 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. Because it is an excellent turning wood, Padauk is 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...(order now)

About Bloodwood A hardwood grown primarily in Central and West Africa. Other names include Muirapiranga, Satine Rubane, Cardinal Wood. It's appearance is straight to interlocked grain with a moderately coarse texture and large pores. Rich red to purple red heartwood and pale-beige sapwood. Physical properties include high bending and crushing strength. Medium stiffness and resistence to shock, but tends to splinter. Low steam bending characteristics. Ages to a deep brown color. As far as working properties, Bloodwood is hard and tough yet works easily with hand and power tools. May need pre-drilling for nailing. Holds screws well. Glues, stains and polishes to a very good finish. Bloodwood has a number of uses including cabinetmaking, furniture, decorative inlay, marquetry work, fancy boxes, turning, veneers.

About Bolivian Rosewood A hardwood grown in Central and South America. It is also known as Morado. It's appearance includes a beautiful wood with black striping on top of a dark brown background. It undergoes a substantial degree of color change as the wood lightens over time and more so in direct sunlight from the darker brown tones to lighter gold/tan tones with a muting the fresh milled color variation. As far as working properties, Bolivian Rosewood has a walnut-like scent and takes a beautiful natural polish. This wood is known to have adverse reactions when certain oil based finishes are used with this wood. Many oil finishes will not dry properly. Rosewood has a number of uses including gameboards, pens, musical instruments or anywhere the rich bold look of a rosewood is desired.

About Bubinga A hardwood grown in Central America. Other names include African Rosewood, Essingang, Buvenga. It's appearance includes a beautiful dense hardwood with a rose-colored background and darker purple striping. In the quartered figure, Bubinga exhibits considerable "flame" figure and in flat sawn offers "rosewood" graining. As far as working properties, Bubinga 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. Gluing can be difficult due to gum pockets. Stains easily and can be brought to an excellent finish. It is moderately durable. Susceptible to attack by common furniture beetle. Heartwood is resistent to preservative treatment. Sapwood is permeable. Low steam bending characteristics and exudation of gum pockets can be troublesome. Bubinga has a number of uses primarily used as a veneer for cabinetwork, furniture, and paneling. Also used for knife handles, and fancy goods.

About Bocote A hardwood grown in Central and South America. It is also known as Bucote, Cordia, Light American Cordia. It's appearance is a particularly fine, beautiful wood, with colors varying from light to golden brown and variegated irregular markings. It has an attractive ray fleck figure if quartersawn. Bocote is a strong lustrous wood, with medium and uniform texture and straight or shallowly interlocked grain. As far as working properties, Bocote is easy to work with, responds well to both hand and machine tools, is easily glued, and takes nails and screws well. It also polishes to a smooth finish, and stains and glues well. Bocote's bending strength is comparable to teak, and compression strength is comparable to mahogany. It is highly resistant to insects. Bocote is in great demand for boat decking, fine cabinetry, fine furniture, decorative and figured veneer, moldings, inlay work, joinery, and turnery. Bocote is sometimes used as a substitute for mahogany, teak or walnut.

About Cocobolo A hardwood grown along Pacific seaboard of Mexico and Central America. It is also known as Granadillo, Nicaragua Rosewood, Nambar, Palisandro, and Caviuana. It's appearance is a fairly straight to interwoven grain with medium to fine texture and low luster. Variable-hued heartwood, maturing to a deep orange-red with darker stripes and mottling. Narrow, whitish sapwood. Very hard and heavy with high strength, stiffness, shock resistance, decay resistance, and stability in use (heartwood). As far as working properties, cocobolo works easily enough with moderate blunting effect. Fine dust created during machining can be an irritant to some people. Can be rubbed to a smooth, waxy finish without application of finishing materials. Difficult to glue due to natural oiliness. Turns very well. Cocobolo has many uses and is considered one of the most important woods in cutlery business for knife handles (can be soaked in soapy water with minimal ill effects). Also used for tool handles, brush backs, bowling balls, chess pieces, carving, jewelry boxes, canes, utensils, buttons, musical and scientific instruments, and decorative veneer and inlay...(order now)

About African Ebony A hardwood grown primarily in central to southern Africa. Other names include varieties from Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Kribi, Gaboon, Madagascar, and Zaire. It's appearance is very fine texture with an indistinct grain and metallic luster. Uniformly black heartwood and yellowish white sapwood. Physical properties include very heavy, hard, strong, and stiff with high shock and decay resistance. Steam-bends reasonably well. Requires pre-drilling to nail or screw. As far as working properties, Ebony tends to chip and quickly dulls cutting edges. Turns well. Finishes to a naturally dark polished surface. Ebony has a number of uses including piano keys, musical instruments, turnery, inlay, novelties, billiard cues, brush backs, and cutlery handles.

About Lacewood A hardwood grown in Australia (Queensland). It is also known as Silky-oak, Australian Silky-oak, Northern Silky-oak, Queensland Silky-oak, Selena and Louro faia. It's appearance is a straight grain with large rays - rays are especially visible on quartersawn Lacewood. Reddish-brown color with a moderately coarse even texture. Wood matures to a brownish color with age. As far as working properties lacewood works well with hand and machine tools, but there is moderate blunting effect on cutters and a tendency to bind in saws. A reduced cutting angle should be used when planing. The rays on quartersawn Lacewood may tend to tear out. Use sharp cutters and a reduced angle of about 20 degrees. Glues well, stains and polishes, with care, to an excellent finish. Good steam bending properties. Lacewood's attractive and figurative grain makes it a popular veneer. Other uses include decorative boxes and ornaments, plywood, and turning.

About Purpleheart A hardwood grown in tropical regions of Central America and South America. It is also known as Violetwood, Amaranth, Sakavalli, Pau Roxom, Nazareno, Armante, Tananeo, Saka, Coracy, Pauferro, Koroboreli and Morado. It's appearance is a straight grain with a moderately coarse texture. Deep purple. Color changes to a rich brown as the wood matures. As far as working properties, Purpleheart can have quite a bit of gum and sap in it that tends to leak out when the wood is heated by cutters. Because of this care should be take to ensure your blades are very sharp. Purpleheart must be run very slowly through the machines as it has a tendency to tear and split. Pre-drilling required for screws and nails. Glues easily and polishes well with no staining required. Uses include inlay, marquetry, furniture, cabinets, flooring, veneers, turnings and tool handles.

About Teak A hardwood grown in Indonesia, India, and Central America. It is also known as Burma Teak, Rangoon Teak, Moulmein Teak, Gia Thi, Jati Sak, Kyun, Mai Sak, Rosawa, and many other local names. It's appearance is generally straight grained with a coarse, uneven texture, medium luster and an oily feel. Yellow brown to dark golden brown heartwood and grayish or white sapwood. Physical properties include 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. As far as working properties, Teak 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 best done on freshly cut surfaces due to oily nature. Pre-drilling recommended for screwing and nailing. Stains and finishes well although natural oils can cause adhesion difficulties. Teak has a number of uses including ship building (especially decks), indoor or outdoor furniture, high class joinery, flooring, paneling, plywood, decorative veneers, turnery, carving, chemical tanks and vats.

About Wenge A hardwood grown in tropical regions of Central America and South America. It is also known as Palisandre Du Congo, Dikela, Mibotu, Bokonge and Awong. 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. As far as working properties, Wenge 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. Uses include flooring strips or blocks, interior and exterior joinery and general construction work and turning wood. It is often sliced for decorative and paneling veneers.

About Zebrawood A hardwood grown in Western Africa - mainly Cameroon and Gabon. It is also known as Zebrano, Zingana, Allene, Ele and Amouk. It's appearance is moderately coarse texture, close defined grain. Yellow brown heartwood, light sapwood with a dark contrasting grain which gives this wood its Zebra-like appearance. As far as working properties, Zebrawood works easily with hand and power tools, although its alternating grain structure makes it difficult to achieve a good machine finish. Grain can tend to tear when planing. A belt sander will achieve a smooth machine finish. Gluing is satisfactory with care. Finishes well when filled. Zebrawood tends to shrink quite a bit. It can be unsuitable for some furniture. Zebrawood has many uses including decorative veneer, cross bandings or inlay, fancy goods, marquetry, panelling, tool handles and pens.