ZEBRAWOOD

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

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 flat sawn or quarter sawn, the stripes can be either chaotic and wavy (flatsawn), or somewhat uniform (quartersawn).

WORKING PROPERTIES

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.

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

The wood is strong and stiff, with a fairly high density. However, the wood is much more frequently used for its bold and unique striping.

MAIN USES

Zebrawood is frequently quartersawn and used as veneer. Other uses include: tool handles, furniture, boatbuilding, and skis.