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NOTE: there is rarely any "standard" or "typical" look for a wood so take what's in this table with a grain of salt
the REST of the pictures on this page will give you a better overall feel for this wood

billy webb wood / Acosmium panamense (syn. Sweetia panamensis)
of the family Fabaceae (syn. Leguminosae)
the legume, pea, or bean family

5" x 5" flat cut, 5" x 5" quartersawn, 1" wide end grain, and a 1/4" x 1/4" end grain closeup.

diffuse porous with closely packed very thin rays, thin vasicentric parenchyma. Generally interlocked grain with signs of that often obvious on face grain. Growth rings range from vague to very clear. Color range centers around brown with from orangish brown to chocolate brown, sometimes with reddish highlights and even reddish/orangish streaks.

Also called chichipate, coyote, and bilihuete, this very hard, heavy, strong wood polishes to a high sheen. In the flooring industry (which makes up its own names) it's sometimes called "Southern chestnut" (but that is NOT a name you will see outside of the flooring industry). It grows from Southern Mexico down through Central America. Reportedly, bee's wing figure is common in this wood due to interlocked grain, but none of the many planks I have purchased have ever exhibited any hint of such a figure nor have I seen many pics on the web of planks with such a figure. A bee's wing plank is shown in in the web pics at the bottom of this page.


my samples:
NOTE: these pics were all taken in very bright incandescent lighting ("soft white" at 2700K)
colors will vary under other lighting conditions


both sides of a sample plank of Billy Webb wood / Acosmium panamense --- the first side has a very slight patina, thus the lighter, richer color on the second side. HUGE enlargements are present


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


both sides of a sample plank of Billy Webb wood / Acosmium panamense --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. The first side of this piece has a very slight patina, thus the lighter, richer color on the second side.


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


both sides of a sample plank of Billy Webb wood / Acosmium panamense --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


both sides of a sample plank of Billy Webb wood / Acosmium panamense --- HUGE enlargements are present.


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


BOTH FACES OF THIS SAMPLE HAVE A LIGHT COAT OF PASTE WAX
both sides of a sample plank of billy webb wood / Acosmium panamense --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


two planks --- the lower one is much more colorful than the upper one and both are planed with the planing ridges showing up quite clearly


a closeup of the same two planks


the other sides of the same two planks as directly above. The smaller plank in all of the pics below was cut from the lower right side of the lower plank


a closeup of the same two planks


a small plank cut from the more colorful of the same two as above, and the end grain of it. The white material in the pores is just sawdust, which I did not remove after fine-sanding the piece


end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above


side grain closeup of the same piece


an angled edge-on shot showing the side grain and face grain together


the same piece as above, but this time shown dry and wet (with water) side by side so you can see how a finishing agent is likely to enrich the color of the wood.


both sides and a closeup of a "golden billy webb" plank. I don't know if this is a different species or what --- it clearly is not sapwood, since it HAS a sapwood edge. It does not feel quite as hard as the brown planks above and the end grain (see closeup just below here) looks slightly more porous which would be consistant with a less dense wood, BUT ... it is just as heavy as the brown version (and that's VERY heavy).


plank cut from the larger one directly above and fine sanded, and a side pic of same


end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above


both sides of a "golden" billy webb plank


"golden" billy webb plank and closeup


both sides, and closeups of each, of a "golden" billy webb plank that has some figure due to a crotch area running the length of the plank.


planks --- colors are accurate


turning stock --- pic has a little too much red


small plank with a nice sheen to it

NOT a raw wood color
a flooring sample of "southern chestnut" that has been finished in a hard, shiny, finish that clearly has deepened and enriched the color.


the piece directly above, after I sanded off the finish


another flooring sample "Southern chestnut" and end grain


end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE of the flooring sample directly above.


END GRAIN UPDATE from a plank somewhere on this page, done to get another pic for the anatomy pages. NOTE: the extreme difference in pore density between this piece (pretty sparse) and the other pieces on this page (very dense) makes me think perhaps this is NOT Acosmium panamense.

web pics:


planks


thins


turning sticks


planks with bee's wing figure