African Blackwood Log Run Boards

Dalbergia melanoxylon

The heartwood is purplish to brownish-black with dark gray streaks giving an overall impression of being black. Lustrous with an attractive inner chatoyance. Very hard, heavy, close-grained, and virtually free from pores. Slightly oily to the touch. The sapwood is straw colored to a bright yellow and can be as wide as 2". African Blackwood can weigh as much as 85 lbs per cubic foot. It is used for marquetry, inlays, knife handles, game calls, pistol grips, pool cue butts, chess pieces, jewelry, and other precious arts and crafts. But its main use is in turning, and it claims the title of the finest of turnery woods, well known as the standard by which other turnery woods are judged. Long a favorite of ornamental turners, the nature of the wood allows very fine detail with sharp cutters, leaving a beautiful, burnished surface. By far most Blackwood is used in the manufacture of turned woodwind instruments such as flutes, clarinets, fifes, piccolos, bagpipes, etc. Its stability, oily nature, resistance to moisture, and lovely tonal qualities make it superior to other timbers.

These are our #3 quality boards and are just as they came off the log. This grade can have sapwood, inclusions, holes, heart defects, and/or cracks. Priced at roughly $5.00/lb they are an excellent & inexpensive source for cutting pen blanks, knife handles, parts for jewelry boxes, turning blanks, jewelry components, etc. Due to some remnants of bark on the boards we can only sell these in the U.S.A. We can remove the bark for foreign customers but it is expensive to do so. Please inquire.

Due to CITES regulations, we can only ship this species to customers in the United States.

Item Number: SP1931