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| Home Painting Skills and Basics Paperhanging Home Decorating Interior Decorating Wood Identification |
GaboonThe usual English name for this timber is gaboon, deriving from the West African republic of Gabon; but  it is known as okoume in many countries.The single species producing gaboon is a large tree, up to 40m in height, found only in Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and the Congo, but where it occurs it is very abundant and more gaboon is exported than any' other African wood. Shipped to continental Europe very largely as logs, gaboon is one of the main timbers used by the plywood industrv. THE WOOD Gaboon is a pale-pink, fairly finetextured and rather characterless wood. It is occasionally figured, but more usually has a straight grain. It is similar in weight to spruce or whitewood. Because its siliceous content makes it abrasive to saws and cutting tools, gaboon is rarely sawn. Instead it is peeled, yielding veneer which dries well, glues well and makes an excellent plywood, though not suitable for use in conditions favouring decay. Gaboon was the first tropical hardwood extensively exploited by the plywood industry in France and in other European countries. Gaboon ply is used for a range of general purposes, for furniture, door skins, partitions, etc., and because of its light weight it is also used in the construction of small boats, though its low durability makes careful maintenance necessary. In addition to plywood, gaboon is also used in the manufacture of block board and laminboard. Extract from 'The International book of WOOD' curtesy Michael Beazley Publishers Limited 1979. |
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