Wood veneer, Wenge

Wenge

Cabinet shop owners are now showing samples of this superb species to more customers and getting excellent feedback. In smaller projects, you'll find that wenge is excellent for contrast against medium tone woods such as oak, cherry, koa, and more. When you find good quality wenge veneer, it is because a veneer mill properly "cooked" the log prior to slicing it. This species is among the most difficult logs to slice. The wenge tree grows to 90 feet high and have a diameter of more than 36 inches. Wenge is in relatively short supply but the price has remained affordable.

Common Name:		Wenge, Mibotu, Bokonge, Palissandre du Congo
Scientific Name:		Millettia laurentii
Family:		Leguminosae
Color:		Dark brown with very dark (almost black) veining
Origin:		Zaire, Gabon, Cameroon, Tanzania
Hardness:		Hard
Texture:		Coarse, open pore
Finishing:		Readily accepts non-water-based stains and can be top-coated with oil based polyurethane, lacquer, and tung oil. Oil based finishes take longer to dry. Water based finishes are often problematic due to the oily/resinous nature of the wood.