Obeche....what do you know?

[Mark Singer]

I am ready to select my Garage door for the home I am building. Obeche is $1000 less than VG Doug Fir and $2000 less than Honduras mahogany....I know it is lite in color and can be stained....Is ist stable? I have never used it and really don't know anything about it. The look is important since you see the garage door as you approach the home. Dilema...decisions????

[Jim Becker]

I have a former co-worker who used Obeche for interior moldings as a replacement for pine/fir...one of the little home centers "way back when" apparently carried it. (I've never seen it retail) The grain pattern was very similar. He gave me a piece of it and if I recall (it was a long time ago), it machined similar to fir. I don't know about the "durability under weather" aspect of it, however.

[Cecil Arnold]

Jim, they don't really have weather in California, just one very long spring.

[Steve Clardy]

I've used obeche plywood in bottoms of lower grade cabinets.
Not stable in plywood. Goes everywhere.
Has a certain smell to it. Not bad, just different.

[Don Baer]

Mark I googled it and found lots of refrences to it. From what I can tell it fairly soft.

Obeche


Product Type: Hardwood
Density: 380 kg/m3
Colour: Nearly White / Pale Straw Yellow
Texture: Moderately Coarse but Even
Durability: Non-Durable
Permeability: Resistant
Origin: West Africa
Species Name: Triplochiton scleroxylon
Notes:
Also called Wawa (Ghana), Samba (Ivory Coast)

[tod evans]

mark, knowing what little i do about the quality of homes you build there`s only one answer......mahogany! .02 tod

[Mark Singer]

mark, knowing what little i do about the quality of homes you build there`s only one answer......mahogany! .02 tod

Tod Thanks! I wish the difference were .02:rolleyes:

[tod evans]

Tod Thanks! I wish the difference were .02:rolleyes:

it is if you add enough zeros.....02 tod

[Ted Jay]

I am ready to select my Garage door for the home I am building. Obeche is $1000 less than VG Doug Fir and $2000 less than Honduras mahogany....I know it is lite in color and can be stained....Is ist stable? I have never used it and really don't know anything about it. The look is important since you see the garage door as you approach the home. Dilema...decisions????

MECHANICAL PROPERTIES - Low bending and crushing strength. Very low stiffness and resistance to shock. Moderate to poor steam bending characteristics.

WORKING PROPERTIES - Very easy to work with hand and power tools. Only slight blunting effect on cutters. Nails easily, but has poor holding characteristics. Takes glue well. Require slight filling to obtain a high grade finish.

DURABILITY - Non-durable. Sapwood susceptible to attack by powder post beetle. Non-resistant to West African termites. Heartwood is resistant to preservative treatment. Sapwood is permeable.

SEASONING - Dries rapidly, but tends to twist or split around knots, otherwise little degradation. Small movement.

USES - Extensively used where durability and strength are unimportant, such as drawer slides, interior rails, cabinet framing, model making, etc. Rotary cut into constructional veneer for plywood core stock purposes and as a backing veneer. Some logs sliced for decorative veneer.

COMMENTS - Liable to blue stain if in contact with iron compounds in moist conditions.

Hope this helps, & here's the link:
http://advantagelumber.com/

[Joe Mioux]

Hi Mark.

With regards to quality, what sounds better to a prospective buyer of a custom built home in Laguna Beach?

Agent: "Yes, and the Garage door was custom built using solid Honduran Mahogany" or

"The garage door was custom built using Obeche".

I would suspect that most homebuyers would relate better quality to the Mahogany over the Obeche. Also, I doubt many people even know what Obeche is.

Joe

[Michael Adelong]

I would suspect that most homebuyers would relate better quality to the Mahogany over the Obeche. I'm not so sure about that.

Like Barnum said... "And look at this Mr homebuyer. They hand crafted this garage door using the finest Obeche wood. Look around. Most of the other homes around here use that same boring old mahogany..." :eek:

Ya never know...

Michael