Wenge

Durability:

Wenge is durable and resistant to termites. It’s high abrasion resistance makes it resistant to wear and ideal for high traffic/use areas. It is extremely resistant to preservative treatment.

Mechanical Properties:

Wenge timber is a heavy density wood that has a high bending strength and a high resistance to shock loads. It has a medium crushing strength, a low stiffness and steam bending classification.

Seasoning:

Wenge timber seasons slowly and requires care to minimise surface checking tendencies. There is a small movement in service.

Uses:

  • Due to the properties of wenge timber, it is suitable for a wide range of uses
  • Wenge has a high natural resistance to abrasion making it a great choice for flooring strips or blocks
  • The abrasion resistance means that the wenge flooring will resist wear, even in high footfall areas. It is therefore commonly used in public spaces such as hotels
  • In addition to this, wenge worktops are also relatively popular, once again their ability to resist wear makes them ideal for these high-use surfaces
  • Wenge is a hardwood that can also be used for interior and exterior joinery and general construction work
  • In addition to this, it is an excellent turnery wood
  • Wenge is however unsuitable for plywood manufacture because of its weight but it is often sliced for panelling and decorative veneers for cabinets, furniture and marquetry, etc
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Description

Wenge is a tropical hardwood, typically sourced from tropical climates such as Zaire and Cameroon Republic. The clearly defined heartwood is dark brown, with very close, fine, almost black veins. The wood is laced with closely spaced whitish bands of parenchyma, giving wenge an attractive appearance. It is fairly straight grained and has a coarse texture. With a weight of 880 kg/m³ (55 lb/ft³) and a specific gravity of 0.88, wenge is a relatively hard and heavy wood.

Additional information

Latin Name

Millettia laurentii

Family Name

Leguminosae

Distribution

Mainly Zaire, also Cameroon Republic and Gabon

Also know as

Dikela, mibotu, bokonge, tshikalakal (Zaire); awong (Cameroon); nson-so (Gabon); palissandre du congo (Congo)

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