African Padauk - Pterocarpus soyauxii

African Padauk is a medium hard specie used primarily for its vibrant orange/red color. It offers a medium range of color variability from medium oranges through to vivid oranges with darker striping. It comes from central and tropical West Africa. It also goes by the commercial names camwood, corail and barwood. African padauk has excellent strength properties. Average height is 100 feet, but the wood can grow to 130 feet with diameters of 2 to 5 feet and wide buttresses. The average weight is 40 to 50 pounds per cubic feet when seasoned. It is a respitory irritant, so please take precautions. The sapwood is white when freshly cut, but turns to brownish yellow or gray upon exposure. Excellent turning wood - used for fancy turnery such as knife and tool handles. Also prized for high end cabinets, furniture, carving, veneer, inlay, flooring, dyewood, joinery, dowels, shuttles, spindles, paddles, and boat building.