Sapele

Also called: sapele mahogany, entandrophragma cylindricum

Sapele is a timber used for furniture, cabinetwork, joinery, flooring and decorative plywood veneers.

A useful cabinet timber

Sapele is used as sawn wood for furniture, cabinetwork, joinery and floors. It is also made into plywood veneer, a thin wood face fixed to a panel, including decorative faces where the surface remains visible.

Read the grain

Interlocked grain is a pattern in which the fibres change direction between successive growth layers. On sapele, that pattern can make a plane lift fibres instead of leaving a clean surface. Take a controlled cut and reduce the cutting angle when the grain begins to tear.

Choose the form

Sapele can be supplied as solid boards or as rotary-cut veneer, made by turning a log against a blade to produce a continuous sheet. Choose solid stock when the part needs its own thickness, and veneer when a stable panel needs a sapele face. Inspect the particular board because a clear-looking surface does not guarantee an easy cut.