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SIPO

Entandrophragma utile
Entandrophragma utile of the family Meliaceae, the mahogany family.

Also known as utile, this common mahogany-related African hardwood sometimes looks a lot like plain sapele (E. cylindricum) and can have a very attractive grain pattern, but does not generally achieve anything like the stunning figure varieties (quilted, pomelle, etc.) that one frequently finds in sapele. It is reportedly difficult to dry well but it has many common uses in Africa and I can confirm that it is very easy and pleasant to work with once seasoned.

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my samples:


plank and end grain.


end grain closeup of the piece directly above


plank and end grain


end grain closeup of the piece directly above


planks and end grain of each --- as you can see, the 2nd plank is perfectly quartersawn and has ray flakes (see closer pic directly below). The upper plank looks almost exactly like some pieces of sapele I've seen.


closeup of the side grain with ray flakes


closeups of both end grains of the planks directly above


a couple of small planks cut from a larger one (not the same as any of the other samples on this page)


end grain closeups of the pieces directly above


a couple of pieces of a large plank, and end grain of each


both sides of a small plank cut from the same larger one as the two directly above


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


side grain and side grain closeup of the piece directly above

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web pics


planks --- I believe that the top surface of all of these has been moistened for the pics --- the first plank is all sapwood and the rest have both sapwood and heartwood.


plank listed as utile


veneer


both sides of one plank and a closeup of another plank --- these were both from the same vendor, who states that the "inclusions" (bark inclusions?) are common in the species --- I think this HAS to be the case of the common name sipo being used for a different species as these certainly don't look like any sipo I've ever seen, nor have I ever seen any sipo with such inclusions.


sipo bowl (base is mahogany) --- highly chatoyant with tight ray flakes (see enlargement of 1st pic)