Anyone work with pomele sapele.

[James Carpenter]

i did a search of the forum but couln't find the words in the search engine. If anyone has worked with this wood before, how does it look? The 8/4 i looked at earlier (in the rough) looked kinda like quilted figuring.

[Kevin Gerstenecker]

Jim, I have worked Sapele once, for a small project. It is interesting and beautiful wood. It is moderately hard, cuts, sands, finishes, and polishes well. If it is Quarter Sawn, it can have very Wavy, and even Ribbon like grain qualities. Bee's Wing figure is seen at times with QS Sapele also. In any case, there will be figured grain, from what I have seen. The Pommele grain is usually used for Veneers, and the Pommele figure, like in other woods, is striking to look at. I have also seen color variation in the wood as well. The Sapele I used had a purplish hue to the nice brown color, but I have seen it with a reddish tint as well. It has a wonderful scent when you cut it.............reminds me of Red Cedar. I didn't notice any significant machining problems, although I could see the busier grained wood giving you fits while planing, but I could be mistaken about that. I had QS Sapele, and it had a semi-Pommele figure, and it planed well........at least I cannot remember having a problem with it. All in all, a really nice Exotic to work with.........very beautiful when finished.