Bubinga is a striking veneer with a very broad color spectrum ranging from pink to brownish-red to nearly violet. It has a beautiful texture and fine contrasting growth lines that may be wavy in some logs due to the grain’s interlocked fibers. Bee’s wing and block mottle figures are fairly common. Behemoth lengths and widths make it well suited for large architectural installations. When rotary cut, bubinga is called kevazinga. This African veneer is a sophisticated and elegant choice for interior environments.
Bubinga
Dillenia is a canopy tree that grows over 100’ tall in the Malaysian archipelago—with straight, branch-free, trunks of 80’ and more, and buttresses up to 12’ high. The heartwood is a rich reddish-brown with an occasional purple tinge. The sapwood is wide, orange-brown to pink, and subtly defined. Conspicuous medullary rays give this wood a lacy and lustrous surface in quarter cut veneer.
While most etimoe trees are tapped for rubber, untapped trees are often sliced to produce this rare and striking veneer. The light red-brown to grey-brown wood has a straight grain, often with striking black-red veins or stripes, and a fine, even, lustrous texture. Etimoe is available in large sizes and in a variety of figures, most commonly curly and fiddleback.
This elegant, tobacco-colored veneer is similar to Brazilian Rosewood, but somewhat less contrasty in color. Rich hues range from dark chocolate brown to violet and even black in lively combinations that produce a one-of-a-kind look prized for architectural use. Flat cut, the wood shows a beautiful cathedral pattern; quartered it produces a straight or broken stripe effect.
Madagascar Rosewood can be found in various shades of deep brown to reddish-brown. The veneer has a medium to fine texture and ribbon grain, typical of rosewoods, with pronounced dark red, vertical lines that can be wavy in some logs. Darker streaks are common and can produce a spiderweb-like figure. Flat cut, the log produces a swirly, burl-like heart.
Sapele varies in color from log to log, but is generally medium to dark red-brown. Finishing brings out an intense depth of color and highlights its natural luster, which is similar to mahogany. This veneer has a fine grain, a distinct and desirable stripe formation, and often carries a lively figure. Flat cut sapele shows the characteristic heart or cathedral grain The highly prized pommele sapele is intensely marked with a swirly grain and randomly interspersed blisters, or pommele markings. A high degree of luster gives sapele a three-dimensional effect.