ekki

open main page for all woods open page 2 for articles

EKKI

Lophira spp.

Lophira alata, Lophira barteri, and Lophira procera of the family Ochnaceae, also widely known as bongossi and azobe among numerous other common names. A very hard, dense wood from Africa, it is a popular choice for heavy construction and marine work in its native regions. One of the samples below was 70lbs/cuft, so this is a VERY heavy wood.

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 ekki / Lophira alata --- 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 HIGH GRIT END GRAIN CLOSEUP of the piece directly above

both sides of a perfectly quartersawn sample plank of bongassi --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. The first face is freshly sanded and the second face is old and rough. This piece prorated out to 70lbs/cuft

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above. I'll get an end grain update for it soon.

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

This dowel is just over 1" in diameter and is "mine" only in that correspondent Mike the puzzle maker sent the pics in to me in the hopes that I could identify it, which I could not. I thought it might be some form of shorea (probably something from the dark red meranti group) but a correspondent named Carlos identified it, correctly I am now confident, as bongossi (which is another common name for ekki).

web pics:

end grain and end grain closeup

plank listed as bongossi and with wet and dry sections

one side of a box, first shown in daylight then in direct sunlight but in both cases it's raw wood, no finish --- These pics and the one below were contributed to the site by Bernhard Schweitzer, whom I thank for the pics.