Sapele flooring

SAPELE

Scientific Name:

Entandrophragma cylindricum

Other Names and Species:

Aboudikro
Libuyu
Muyovu
Penkwa
Sapelli
Sapelii

Origin:

West and East Africa, from the Ivory Coast to the Cameroons and eastward through Zaire to Uganda.

Appearance:

The sapwood of sapele tends to whitish or pale yellow and is distinct from the heartwood, which ranges in color from a medium to dark reddish or purplish brown. Sapele is lustrous and fine-textured, with an interlocked grain that is sometimes wavy, producing a narrow, uniform roe figure on quartered surfaces. When cut, it has a cedar-like scent.

Properties:

Sapele is quite durable and seasons rapidly, but with a marked tendency to warp, so careful stacking is required.

Janka Hardness: 1510

Sapele is about four percent harder than hard maple, is roughly eleven percent harder than white oak, about fifty-one percent harder than teak, close to four percent harder than sugar maple, is twenty-one percent softer than jarrah, and is about twenty two percent as hard as Santos mahogany's ranking of 2200.

Workability:

This wood works equally well with hand and machine tools, and it saws and finishes easily. Sapele has good nailing and gluing properties.

Principal Uses:

Sapele is most commonly found in wood flooring and paneling, decorative veneers, furniture, and cabinetwork.