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Indigenous to the tropical regions of East Africa and West Africa, as far south as Angola.¬† Anegre has been used primarily as an interior wood; it is decidedly non-durable, and thus not recommended for outdoor applications. The wood's aesthetics can vary greatly, as Anegre is comprised of three separate species within the Pouteria genus. Its colors can range from pale yellowish to orangish-brown wood, to a pale pinkish-brown, sometimes with additional highlight coloration. Anegre typically darkens to a golden-to reddish brown over time, with repeated UV ray exposure. The heartwood and sapwood of Anegre are usually not distinguishable from each other.Anegre has a medium texture with closed pores similar to Maple.¬† The species is easy to work with both hand and power tools. Examples can be quite beautiful -- and sometimes stunning, with curly and mottled figuring being not uncommon. Its hues tend to be generally pastel in nature, so it makes a very complimentary, aesthetically unimposing wood for a variety of interior applications. Grains are typically straight but can occasionally be interlocked. Its texture is medium and it has a nice natural luster.

boatbuilding, cabinetry, carpentry, construction, veneer

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Sneezewood

Ptaeroxylon Obliquum, from which Sneezewood is derived, is a deciduous evergreen tree or shrub. The lumber it yields has a heartwood which is generally comprised of light to medium golden brown hues (although the brownish hues can sometimes be dark, toward the tree's center). Grains are generally either straight or wavy, although they can be interlocked. The wood is quite dense, which makes it somewhat difficult to work, but renders excellent dimensional stability when dried.

It turns and finishes well, although gluing can be problematic, due to the natural oil content of the wood.

carving, construction, furniture, specialty items, turnings, utility lumber

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Spruce - Englemann

Engelmann Spruce is typically a high-altitude mountain evergreen tree, indigenous to the mountainous regions of western North America, with scattered, isolated distribution in surrounding lower-level areas. The wood is prized among many acoustic guitar luthiers, for its superior resonance and tonal response qualities when used as a soundboard (acoustic guitar top). Its color can range from a light off-white to cream.

It is straight grained and has a fine, consistent texture, which makes it generally easy to work -- although common-grade pieces may contain numerous small knots, and the wood can be difficult to stain. Its excellent stiffness-to-weight ratio has made it historically useful in a variety of construction and utility applications, benefited, also, by a virtually limitless domestic supply.

construction, harps, lutherie, musical Instruments

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Tamboti

Tamboti is a beautiful African hardwood which is derived from the Spirostachys Africana tree -- a medium-sized, semi-deciduous to deciduous, fruit producing tree. The heartwood is brown to dark brown, with darker markings and streaks, clearly demarcated from the whitish to pale yellow sapwood. Its grains are usually straight to slightly wavy, with a fine, even texture. The wood has a beautiful banded figure and a satin-like lustre, with an oily surface. Known for its durability, dimensional stability and exceptional rot and insect resistance, Tamboti is a hard, heavy wood -- and one which remains in steady demand throughout regions of its natural range, despite its somewhat challenging working properties.

Between the tree's natural oils and latex production, resawing the wood tends to gum up saw blades. Difficulties aside, the wood turns and finishes well, and its density and pleasant aesthetics make it popular with wood carvers, as well.

boatbuilding, cabinetry, carving, construction, flooring, furniture, specialty items, turnings

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Teak - Burmese

Genuine Teak is one of the world's most well-known and coveted woods. Its heartwood is light-medium to medium brown, with a tint that can range from muted gold to a pale red. (Its color darkens as it ages.) Sapwood colors are a pale white, off-white or a pale yellowish brown. But it is the wood's great toughness, rot resistance and durability -- versus some rather bland aesthetics -- which make it so popular.

Its grains are typically straight (although sometimes wavy, or even interlocked) with a high natual oil content. This generally makes for favorable working characteristics, although the wood does possess a high silica content.

boatbuilding, carving, construction, flooring, furniture, turnings, veneer

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Palmyra - Black

Not unlike its coconut-producing cousin, Red Palm, Black Palmyra (perhaps better known as "Black Palm" in the US) is unique among exotic woods in several ways. First, it's tree is not categorized a hardwood or softwood tree, but as a flowering plant: Monocotyledon (or "Monocot"). Secondly, the tree is comprised of two entirely different layers: at its core is a soft, spongy cellulose mass; this soft core is surrounded by a protective body, comprised of dense, overlapping layers of interwoven fibrovascular strands. It is this hard, dense protective layer that is considered its wood.

While it is considered to be typically straight grained, because of its toughness the wood can be very diificult to work; splintering and tearouts are not uncommon. It is a dimensionally stable wood, but it requires sharp blades and precise-angled cuts to get acceptable results when resawing this wood.

boatbuilding, construction, flooring, furniture, handles, turnings, walking sticks

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Mahogany - Pod

Pod Mahogany is a light reddish-brown wood, indigenous to the southeastern region of Africa. (Sapwood is easily distinguishable, with its pale yellow coloration.) It is a very hard wood -- considerably more dense, stable and durable than any other 'mahogany substitute' wood. More dense specimens have been used for a number of demanding outdoor applications in Africa, yet premium-grade pieces can hold their own, aesthetically, with the finest exotic woods in the world -- often boasting a high degree of chatoyance, and a remarkably deep, 3D-like figure.

construction, fencing, flooring, furniture, inlay, paneling, utility lumber

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Mahogany - Santos

Although not a true (Swietenia-genus) mahogany, Santos Mahogany exhibits a lot of the same aesthetic characteristics. The heartwood ranges from a muted yellow-orange to (more commonly) a deep red in color. Pieces which feature dramatic figuring and chatoyance, like its namesake, are not uncommon, either. Its visual similarities are where the comparisons end, as the wood is considerably heavier and generally around twice as dense and hard as a typical true mahogany species.

Its grains are typically interlocked (though sometimes straight), making it difficult to work. The wood has a high natural oil content, which can make it difficult to glue but gives it a beautiful luster and renders an excellent finish. Its texture is typically not as fine as mahogany, shading more towards the 'medium' portion of the scale.

construction, flooring, furniture, veneer

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Mopane Roots

Indigenous to the southern region of Africa, the Mopane tree is known for its butterfly-shaped leaves -- leaves which are initially a bright green color, later transforming into a cache of reds, oranges, and yellows, in the autumn season. The heartwood it produces is medium to darker brown in color, with a golden to reddish tint, often decorated with black streaks. It is very dense and extremely durable. It is also very resistance to infestation, which has seen it used for centuries in its native region in a variety of outdoor uses.

The wood is considered very difficult to work, as -- in addition to its great density -- its grain patterns are usually interlocked. It turns smoothly and (as would be expected) holds details very well, making it popular with turners and carvers who know of it.

We stock roots, but the details we provide are for the timber.

carving, construction, fencing, flooring, furniture, turnings, utility lumber

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Ipe

Ipe is known throughout its indigenous Central & South American regions as an extremely dense, durable wood, but also one that is quite difficult to work. The wood encompasses a variety of different species of the Handroanthus genus, so aesthetics and grains patterns can vary dramatically. The wood can have a deep chocolate brown color with reddish tint, or sometimes a greenish tint accented by traces of green, yellow, orange and/or red color. Often, its aesthetics are enhanced by rugged, dark contrasting striping.

Grains can be straight, irregular or interlocked; straight-grained pieces plane and turn well, although cutting tools and blades should always be at their very sharpest. Its texture can range from fine to medium, and it generally has a good natural luster.

construction, decking, flooring, handles, turnings, veneer

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Iroko

Iroko is a very tough, durable wood that has been traditionally used in a multitude of applications in its native Africa. Its golden to medium brown color, course texture and interlocked grains give it an appearance very similar to that of Teak; although it is significantly less dense, it has been utilized in Africa in many of the same functions / duties that Teak has in other parts of the world. Despite its toughness (and interlocked grains), it is generally not difficult to work; it glues and finishes well.

boatbuilding, cabinetry, construction, flooring, furniture, specialty items, turnings, utility lumber, veneer

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Cedar - Himalayan

Himalayan Cedar is an important timber tree in Pakistan, Kashmir and north-western India. Its wood is noted for being strong and durable mostly utilized in construction, carpentry and furniture applications in its indigenous regions. The trees are also known for the fragrant essential oil they produce (distilled from wood chips and sawdust), which is used throughout Northeast Asia to protect livestock from mosquitos, gnats and other airborne pests and it also has anti-fungal properties. Heartwood ranges from a light tan to light brown with a reddish tint. Grains are typically straight; it is fine, even textured with a high natural luster. The wood is reputed to have excellent working properties, as well as an impressive strength-to-weight ratio.

carpentry, construction, furniture, joinery

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Cedar - Japanese

Japanese Cedar is the national tree of Japan, where it is highly-prized for the scented, strong, but lightweight timber it produces. It's significance extends beyond that, as its impact on Japanese culture is reflected by the fact that it is found planted at numerous sacred sites throughout the country. The wood is reddish-pink in color, straight-grained and medium textured; it glues, stains and finishes well. Its impressive strength-to-weight ratio and excellent working properties makes it ideal for all varieties of construction applications.

boatbuilding, carving, construction, furniture, turnings

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Cedrorana

This somewhat obscure, seldom-seen South American wood is typically a light to golden brown color; with large open pores, marked by prominent red vessel lines, decorating its grainy surface. It is difficult to differentiate the sapwood, as it is only slightly lighter in color and not clearly demarcated. Its pores are some of the largest of any commercial lumber in the world, with vessel diameters routinely between 300 and 500 micrometers. The dark contrast of the pores give the wood a very unique "veiny" look that is popular with some Latin American furniture craftsmen.

construction, furniture, turnings

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Cerejeira

Cerejira is an important wood in the dry portions of central and southern South America. It is noted for its beauty, durability, strength and stability, thus making this tough, versatile wood ideal for a wide variety of applications. Left undisturbed, trees can grow to towering dimensions -- producing valuable, coveted slabs which are renowned for their incredibly detailed, almost 3D-like crotch sections.

cabinetry, construction, furniture, veneer

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Cerejeira - Crotch

Cerejira is an important wood in the dry portions of central and southern South America. It is noted for its beauty, durability, strength and stability, thus making this tough, versatile wood ideal for a variety of applications. Left undisturbed, trees can grow to towering dimensions -- producing valuable, coveted slabs which are renowned for their incredibly detailed, 3D-like crotch sections.

cabinetry, construction, furniture, veneer

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Cypress - Swamp

Swamp Cypress is so named for its association with swamp land, with is roots often protruding above the land or submerged into the swamp water where it grows. This light, pale yellow-brown wood known for its durability, toughness and character is also the State Tree of Louisiana. It is an important wood in the indigenous Southeast region of the US, as its versatility and workability lend it to a variety of diverse applications. It is typically straight-grained, although knots are commonly present. Other than the knots, the wood poses no difficult challenges for working, glue and finishing.

boatbuilding, construction, veneer

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Boire

Boire is known throughout Africa to be a tough, durable wood, despite it's Maple-like density. It is reputed to remain smooth under friction, which makes it ideally suited for its primary use in flooring. The sapwood of Boire is pale brown in color; its heartwood is typically medium brown to bronze, with dark streaks (and sometimes other hues, such as oranges and yellows, intermingled). The species has interlocked grain, and fine and uniform in texture. Other than the tear-out commonly associated with interlocking grains, the wood has good working properties.

cabinetry, construction, flooring, furniture, gun stocks, joinery, veneer

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Cedar - Alaskan

Alaskan Cedar has been a wood historically embroiled in controversy with botanical and wood experts, as the wood has experienced its genus reclassified on six different occasions over the course of the last two centuries. Despite its relatively light weight and density, it is a very durable and quite versatile species -- having seen duty in numerous indoor and outdoor applications. The wood has also become a popular choice with luthiers, for acoustic guitar soundboards.

boatbuilding, boxmaking, carving, construction, decking, flooring, outdoor furniture

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Pine - South African

SA Pine is actually not indigenous to South Africa, but was introduced many years ago. It is grown in plantations all over and is one of our most cost effective timbers available. It has low bending and stiffness properties, while crushing strength and resistance to shock loads is low. There is a low blunting effect on cutting edges. The timber takes nails well and gluing is satisfactory. The surfaces, when polished, will provide a good finish.

cabinetry, construction, furniture, joinery, veneer

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Pine - Oregon

Oregon Pine (or Douglas Fir) is an important, valuable timber to the Northwest of the US -- being used in construction and a variety of building applications. Its trees grow to towering heights, yielding huge planks of usable timber. Its color can vary from a light tan to a medium brown, with a yellow, orange or even red tint. Grains can vary from straight to wavy to irregular, with flatsawn pieces often possessing wild, dramatic grain patterns. It is moderately durable, has excellent working properties (cuts, glues, stains and finishes well) and a good strength-to-weight ratio.It is known for being very stiff for a lightweight wood, which has seen it be used as both an acoustic guitar soundboard and an electric guitar body wood with progressive builders, in recent years.

construction, guitar wood, joinery, plywood, veneer

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Merbau

Merbau comes from East Africa, South East Asia and Australia. It is heavy with medium strength, has some gum exudation which can dull blades during cutting. Dye deposits can cause staining if untreated. It is a very durable timber and it glues and finishes well.

construction, flooring, joinery, pergolas

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Karri

High bending and crushing strengths and stiffness. Difficult to work with hand tools, and has a moderate to severe blunting effect on machine tools. It can be glued, stained and polished satisfactorily.

boatbuilding, construction, flooring

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Ekki

Azobe is an extremely heavy and dense wood that comes from West Africa. It is a good load-bearing timber for outdoor use and excellent for marine applications. It can be difficult to work but is very durable and resistant to decay.

boatbuilding, bridges, construction, decking, flooring, marine construction, railway sleepers

M3	LENGTH	THICKNESS	TOTAL WIDTH	+- PCS
0.1	2.45	26mm	1570mm	9-12
0.1	2.45	38mm	1075mm	6-9
0.1	2.45	50mm	816mm	4-7

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