Utile

Utile

Durability:

The wood is durable; the sapwood liable to attack by powder post beetle, and the heartwood is moderately resistant to termites in West Africa. It is extremely resistant to preservative treatment and resistant to decay.

Mechanical Properties:

This heavy density wood has only medium bending strength, and a high crushing strength with low stiffness and resistance to shock loads. It has a very poor steam bending classification as it buckles severely.

Seasoning:

The wood dries fairly rapidly with a tendency for twisting to occur. If allowed to dry moderately slowly the degrade is not severe. Original shakes tend to extend. There is medium movement in service.

Uses:

  • Furniture and cabinetmaking, counter tops, high-class exterior and interior joinery, flooring, boat building and planking, musical instruments, sports good, and general construction work
  • Selected material used for plywood manufacture and sliced for decorative veneers
Get in Touch

Description

The heartwood matures from a pink-brown when fresh cut to deep red-brown. The grain is interlocked to rather irregular, producing a wide irregular striped figure on quartered surfaces. Weight varies from 550-750 kg/m³ (34-47 lb/ft³), but averages 660 kg/m³ (41 lb/ft³); specific gravity .66. Texture, uniformly moderate.

Additional information

Latin Name

Entandrophragma utile

Family Name

Meliaceae

Distribution

West and East Africa.

Also know as

Tshimaje rosso (Zaire); mebrou zuiri (Ivory Coast); kosi-kosi (Gabon); afau-konkonti (Ghana)

Timber you may like

  • Jatoba

    Jatoba timber, also known as Brazilian cherry, has heartwood that is salmon red to orange-brown, marked with dark brown and russet brown streaks. The wood has a golden lustre. The grain is commonly interlocked with a medium to coarse texture. Weight 910kg/m³ (56lb/ft³); specific gravity .91.

  • Koto

    Koto's heartwood is creamy-white in colour with a greyish tint. The grain is interlocked with small knot clusters present in some logs. The texture is moderately coarse. Quartered surfaces reveal a striking flecked figure due to the high rays. The weight is variable from 530-750 kg/m³ (33-47 lb/ft³) with the average for 650 kg/m³ (41 lb/ft³); specific gravity .65.

  • Ekki

    Dark red to deep chocolate-brown with conspicuous white deposits in the pores giving a speckled appearance. Grain is usually interlocked, and the texture coarse and uneven. Weight 950-1120 kg/m³ (59-70 lb/ft³), averaging 1025 kg/m³ (64 lb/ft³); specific gravity 1.02.

  • Cumaru

    The heartwood is reddish-brown or purplish-brown, with light yellowish-brown or purplish streaks when freshly cut, turning to a variegated reddish and yellowish-brown after drying, but on exposure to light assuming a uniform yellowish-brown or light brown colour. The sapwood is about 50mm wide, distinct from the heartwood and yellowish-brown in colour. The wood has a waxy or oily feel, a fine texture, and irregular and often interlocked grain. It is an extremely hard and heavy wood.