West African hardwoods return to U.S. market

QUARTET of West African hardwoods is now readily available to the United States from Liberia. Khaya and lovoa are already familiar here, but sipo and sapele are better known in Europe where they have been used extensively.

Khaya, also known as African mahogany, is one of the most widely used mahoganies at present. It is said to be reasonable in cost and readily obtainable in all sizes. Coarser textured than other mahoganies, it often has an interlocked grain which produces figuring.

This interlocked grain makes it more difficult to work than the Honduras variety, but, nevertheless, it is fairly easy to work with both hand and machine tools although there is a tendency for the grain to pick up in planing, It is considered to veneer well.

Seasoning can be easily accomplished by either kiln or air seasoning methods. Little splitting or checking occurs but care must be taken to avoid warping. The strength compares favorably with that of Honduras mahogany. The wood is only moderately resistant to decay, but this is not a factor since it is seldom used where fungi are liable to attack it.

Both the lumber and veneer form are used in the United States for furniture and interior decoration. The wood also is good for quality joinery, boat interiors and such. Sawn timber is available in lengths up to 20 ft in widths of 6 to ?.0" and thickness of I to 4".

Lovoa is known as African walnut because of its golden brown color marked with black streaks. A member of the mahogany family, it has many of the same characteristics in grain, texture and weight. It dries quickly and well.

When planed, the surface is distinctly lustrous. The sapwood is narrow, buff or light brown and normally sharply defined from the heartwood. It works easily with most tools but tends to pick up on quarter-sawn stock due to the interlocked grain. Hand turning requires care and sharp tools. Drills must be sharp.

Used in the United States for decorative veneer, it is popular in Europe for furniture, cabinet-making, billiard tables, paneling, veneer, joinery, chairs, gun butts and flooring.

Sipo and sapele closely resemble each other with pale pink to reddish brown heartwood and pale yellow or whitish sapwood. Sipo has an interlocked grain which produces a broad ribbon-stripe wider and more irregular than that of sapele. Sipo dries moderately slowly while sapele dries rapidly with little degrade. When freshly cut safele has a cedar-like scent.

Story at a Glance

Liberia seeks to develop U.S. market for four Wesl Afrlcan hardwoods ...mahogany and walnut characteristics. .widely accepted In Europe...parquet, other hardwood products available.

Sipo has strength properties similar to those of mahogany while sapele is much harder with great resistance to indentation. Its bending strength, stiffness and resistance to shock loads almost equal those of English oak.

Both woods work well with hand and machine tools, take stain and glue well and polish well. A cutting angle of l5o is recommended for best results with both woods.

Both sipo and sapele are used in Europe for furniture, cabinets, joinery, shop-fitting, boatbuilding, veneer for plywood and decoration. Sapele also is used for paneling and flooring. Khaya, sipo and sapele are being used in parquet flooring manufactured in Liberia for export. These parquets are produced to APA standards available unsanded and paper faced or mounted on substrate and presanded. The latter can be custom finished with multiple coats of Varathane. Five patterns are presently available. Unfinished tongue and groove strip flooring as well as trim strips and moldings for professional floor laying, casings, chair rails, coves, hard rails, corners, wainscot caps, stops and other products manufactured from these hardwoods also are available.

Liberia is making a concentrated effort to produce hardwoods from their virtually unharvested forests to meet the increasing needs of U.S. wood product manufacturers and decorative wood product users.

They reportedly are able to produce a stable quantity of quality roughsawn nine months out of the year. Shipping is done from Liberian deep water ports. Since the Liberian currency is the U.S. dollar, pricing is said to be competitive.

lT IS a popular economic and social lmisconception that middlemen are unnecessary, are responsible for higher consumer costs, and therefore, should be avoided. This is far from accurate in the trucking industry.

Each day thousands and thousands of trucks fill our country's highways to service customers. A truck and trailer easily cost $100,000. With this expensive equipment, a profit+onscious trucker's main objective is to avoid costly down time by staying loaded with the best revenue-producing loads available. To achieve this objective there must be someone available to give specific instructions to the drivers as where to pick-up and deliver and to issue cash advances. Major trucking companies have dis-

Story at a Glance

Truck brokers sen e both trucker and shipper...save both time and money.. .responsible for security of load and payment to driver. .comparable to wholesaler link between manufacturer and retailer.