Sierra Leone has created plantations as has Cote d’Ivoire. Tabonar, check out our Sapele page and the chart on the left details all the specifications you could want to know about Sapele. I see you correct it later with “mahogany like hardwoods” Make no mistake is is a very attractive timber and takes numerous stains and finishes well, it is not a mahogany and does not display any similar physical characteristics other than looks.. After sanding down, the bare sapele looks quite porous, so seems to me a good idea to use grain filler to fill the pores before applying top finish. Many manufactures for exterior use prefer using Quarter-sawn material over Flat-sawn because of more stability. Just like outdoor furniture, the types of material that an outdoor deck is made from will have a large impact on overall lifetime and durability.Therefore, it is important to choose the right type of wood from the start. Published: November 18, 2011 | Author: Shannon Rogers25 Comments. We love the look of it, but we are concerned about how it would cope with water, especially around the sink. This availability will keep costs down as well as make it a species you can consistently rely on getting for your projects. That being said, Sapele is a good choice as a beautiful and very durable wood. Cypress holds resins and glues very well. Redwood. It is however a glorious wood to work with but not commercially available anywhere I know of. Of course it would be compatible. Plastic composites have come into the outdoor wood marketplace. Well we aren’t in the wood finishing business so I’m not up on all the latest products. Sapele lumber is often marketed as a type of African Mahogany. So I’d start with good outdoor-friendly wood and go from there. The Sapele seemed like Balsa wood - porous, soft, and light weight. Boatbuilding 8. Sapele is one of my favorite woods. Would that include resistance to decay as well? Also like Mahogany, Sapele is a popular wood for guitar necks. Different types of woods have different levels of resistance to the elements. Question It might surprise you how often this is overlooked. Not sure of your source, but Apple is nothing like Sapele in appearance, grain, workability, and availability. Sapele is a good exterior wood and deals with moisture quite well. And, if you are doing a high-end outdoor piece clear walnut may make sense. In North America we aim for 6-8% moisture for all our woods. The grain and pore structure is tighter than Genuine Mahogany so Sapele also serves as a great substrate for painted surfaces. I've never known either sapele or any mahogany to resemble 2 x 4's at Home Depot. Caring for Sapele. While the grain pattern is still moving in the same direction, the interlocking pattern acts to cancel out a lot of movement that is typically found across the grain. I am looking for timber similar to Sapele for wooden toy manufacturing. Cuban Mahogany, Swietenia mahogani (genus and species names), the Wood of Kings, has been among the most prized and valuable timbers since the late 16th century. But in your application there could be substantially more moistures for longer periods of time. John Edward Clark Gunmaker. Still 30% and greater is common. The two commercial lumber species are Khaya ivorensis and K. anthotheca. FSC is usually obtainable but it will drive up the cost and decrease the availability. Sapele is most often used as a window and door material because it is so stable and almost completely rot and weather resistant. Thanks , Dave. Doors and windows 4. Solid Sapele is generally stable when dry, making it ideal for use in doors. Failure to use the best type of wood in particular outdoor setting might give you undesirable results. It is light in color and has a grain pattern quite similar to traditional oak. Sapele won’t be any different than any other wood flooring species. Do you have any experience of using the wood for this purpose, or have any advice about keeping it well maintained and free from mildew? Architectural Millwork 6. I can’t tell you how many people we sell Sapele to who intend to use it for furniture. Countertops 11. Your email address will not be published. As a woodworker, furniture maker, podcaster, blogger, teacher, and Director of Marketing for one of the oldest Lumber companies in the country, he really can't stop talking about wood and the beautiful ways it can be used. Acacia wood is a living, breathing raw material that needs a lot of help to survive. The funny thing is that the botanical definition of hardwood and softwood has nothing to do with how hard the wood actually is; but rather it denotes the structure of the tree and in general whether or not it loses its leaves. It grows in central Africa from the western coast, eastward in a broad band. Then talk to your installer or do some research on dog friendly durable polyurethane finishes. Sapele is also known as ‘African Mahogany’ as they share many of the same qualities. The rifle is now complete and I stained it dark reddish brown with a London oil finish. Today there are still a few trees, but they are extremely rare and should not be used as such usage will encourage harvesting and the ultimate end of this species. (Architectural Woodworking Forum) There is always a risk of some minor surface checking for the stuff that gets a lot of sun baking on it all day, but that is pretty much the same with any species out there. Will it scratch and show a lot of nicks. Easily one of the most popular hardwoods in our inventory in the last year has been Sapele. Some make use of recycled material, but all are rotproof. It is common for the trunk to exceed 6 feet in diameter and it has a very straight trunk with little to no branching below 80 feet. They also today use totally certified wood and they make an effort to assure that the wood is indeed properly certified. Wood is primarily used for Pergola and Gazebo construction since it tends to be readily available, easy to work with and durable when exposed to outdoor conditions. The range of wood we have found best for making Hardwood vs Softwood Windows. Sapele is a valuable resource and it is imperative we continue to treat it as such so this highly popular species won’t become difficult to obtain thus sparking questionable harvesting practices. All these species have many local names. So when asked if the species will be good for exterior projects, we answer with a strong yes.Boat building tests wood in a way that nothing else will, so if a particular wood is good enough for that, then trim, windows, or siding have nothing to fear. Musical instruments 5. The stain will actually reduce the shimmer in the ribbon figure, making it dull because it mainly stays on top of the wood. Not all of the Mahogany labelled species behave as well and they vary dramatically in density, color, and stability. I could not believe the beauty of and depth of the grain and color. Turned objects 7. Besides solid wood, here are some other types of wood available for decking and other outdoor living spaces: Pressure-treated wood is the most common type of decking material because it’s the most readily available and cheapest choice. Hi Shannon; I’m thinking of using Sapele for furniture, such as a wine rack/table. Thank you. This certainly gives our customers peace of mind when it comes to legislation like the Lacey Act, but the level of detail also ensures that the buyer knows what they are getting. As a fellow dog owner I feel your pain. Resistant or very resistant: Moderately resistant: Slightly or nonresistant: Baldcypress (old growth) 1 Catalpa This density poses special problems for fastening and movement. Shannon, you write some very informative and cool articles. This hardness and medium density as well as propensity for straight grained boles (central trunk of the tree) makes Sapele wood very stable and thus predictable from the moment it is felled to when it is pulled from a drying kiln. The best way to get it is through micro mills that will saw a log you bring to them. African mahogany is in the Khaya genus. Native to Africa, Sapele is a reddish-brown wood of closely interlocking grain. It turned some pretty nice looking benches into works of art. Green is a relative term too as there is just cut where most trees will run upwards of 80% moisture and then there is green as in wood that was cut months ago but has not been sawn. I'm under the impression that true Honduras mahogany is commercially endangered, and what is being sold may be poached (according to HPVA). Teak is more suitable for outdoor use as it is more weather-resistant. Famous furniture builders Thomas Sheraton, Thomas Chippendale, and Duncan Phyfe chose Cuban mahogany for their fine furniture. I would love to see a picture of that rifle John; sounds beautiful! The best option to treat untreated wood for outdoor use is through these sealing options. In truth, when it comes to decking, cladding, pergolas, and landscaping, using timber is a practical and attractive option. I found it a little softer than the curly sugar maple I am used to but it took carving fairly well although a little stringy. A finish will control that to some extent and still allow the wood to turn gray over time. We have had a Sapele dining table in our office conference room for several decades. Absolutely. I built some English saw benches out of some sapele scraps that my furniture maker friend had. How to Treat Untreated Wood for Outdoor Use. Just beautiful! The quarter sawn Sapele is even more stable as well as stunning in appearance and that makes for a pretty attractive product. If a sapele porch floor has not had a finish applied and the front half has been exposed to the weather and is turning grey, can the wood be sanded to return it to the original color before applying a finish to the entire floor? This yields very straight grained, wide and long lumber in great abundance per log. I have a customer that wanted one of my custom flintlock rifles made from a wood from Zimbabwe since he spent lot of time there, the closest I could come to that was Sapele. We found that in many cases, the problem is not of the kind of timber material in use but merely the failure of developers to understand the different species of wood, their installation procedure, suitability and also … But in your application there could be substantially more moistures for longer periods of time. 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