Zebrawood

Specs

Common Names

Zebrawood, Zebrano

Scientific Name

Microberlinia brazzavillensis

Origin

West Africa

Appearance

Heartwood is a light brown or cream color with dark blackish brown streaks vaguely resembling a zebra’s stripes. Depending on whether the wood is flatsawn or quartersawn, the stripes can be either chaotic and wavy (flatsawn), or somewhat uniform (quartersawn). Has a fairly coarse texture and open pores. Grain is usually wavy or interlocked. Endgrain: Diffuse-porous; large to very large pores in no specific arrangement, few to very few; solitary and radial multiples of 2-3; heartwood deposits (brown) occasionally present; narrow rays not visible without lens, spacing fairly close; parenchyma diffuse-in-aggregates, unilateral, vasicentric, winged, lozenge, and confluent, and banded (marginal).

Avg. Dried Weight

50 lbs/ft3 (805 kg/m3)

Janka Hardness

1830 lbf

Modulus of Rupture

17,800 lbf/in2 (122.8 MPa)

Elastic Modulus

2,374,000 lbf/in2 (16.37 GPa)

Crushing Strength

9,210 lbf/in2 (63.5 MPa)

Shrinkage

Radial: 7.6%, Tangential: 10.8%, Volumetric: 17.8%, T/R Ratio: 1.4

Durability

Heartwood is rated as durable and is also resistant to insect damage.

Workability

The wood saws well, but can be very difficult to plane or surface due to the prevalence of interlocking grain. Tearout is common. Zebrawood glues and finishes well, though a transparent pore filler may be necessary for the large open pores which occur on both dark and light surfaces.