WOOD FOR THE PROJECT

Brendan and Seamus Harcourt-Wood of Rare Woods South Africa (rarewoods. co.za) again supplied the wood for this project. We chose to work with sapele and French sycamore.

SAPELE (ENTANDROPHRAGMA CYLINDRICUM)

Also called sapele mahogany, this wood species is economically important to Africa. It’s quickly gaining popularity across many industries, and is commonly used as a substitute for genuine mahogany. It’s considered moderately durable and stable in use, and colour can range from a light golden brown to a darker reddish or pinkish brown. Sapele is renowned for its often dramatic figure, which comes in an array of styles, including ribbon, pommel, quilted, mottled, waterfall, wavy, bee’s wing, tiger-stripe, and fiddleback. It works well with both hand and machine tools, and possesses a beautiful natural lustre.

FRENCH SYCAMORE

(ACER PSEUDOPLATANUS)

As with all other members of the true maple genus (Acer), European sycamore is a hardwood whose sapwood is greatly preferred over its heartwood. The sapwood can vary from an almost pure white to a light cream colour, with tinting ranging from a golden yellow to a muted red.

The heartwood is typically a medium to dark reddish-brown. Grains are generally straight, but can also be wavy. Combined with its fine texture, it’s easy to work with using hand and machine tools alike. It glues and finishes well, with a good natural lustre. Not unlike its Acer-genus counterparts, pieces can sometimes exhibit dramatic figure.

Boards are typically found quartersawn, as European sycamore is the lumber well-known for its preferential (and historical) use as a body wood for stringed orchestral instruments

(such as violins, violas, and others). It possesses superb resonance qualities and full-spectrum frequency response at a very moderate weight.