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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

gaboon / Aucoumea klaineana 3" x 3" flat cut, 3" x 3" quartersawn, 1" wide end grain, and a 1/4" x 1/4" end grain closeup. Diffuse porous with large, sparse pores, occasional pore multiples, rays visible at 10X. Growth ring boundaries are often vague. Face grain generally shows considerable graininess. The most widely used alternate common name for this wood in the USA is okoume and many of the web pics below, both planks and veneer, were obtained under that name but at the time I had the wood listed as okoume, not gaboon, and when I combined the two I forgot to distinguish between how each piece had been listed. I don't consider that it is terribly significant because in any case, it's Aucoumea klaineana.

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 listed as okoume / Aucoumea klaineana --- HUGE enlargements are present.


end grain and HIGH GRIT END GRAIN CLOSEUP of the piece directly above


both sides of a sample plank listed as okoume / Aucoumea klaineana --- 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 plank of curly gaboon / Aucoumea klaineana which the vendor had as okoume. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. For more detail on this plank, see the sample directly below


both sides of a sample plank of curly okoume / Aucoumea klaineana --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. This sample is from the plank directly above


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


both sides of a piece of okoume / Aucoumea klaineana --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. Both sides of this piece were extremely rough and I sanded the first face was sanded to 240 grit barely cleaned up the second face and this accounts for the better resolution of the detail characteristics as seen in the first one and the slight difference in color between the two.


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


both sides of a sample plank of okoume / Aucoumea klaineana (presumably) --- 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


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


plank and end grain (sold to me as okoume)



end grain closeup (upside down) and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above


both sides of a sample plank of okoume


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


This edge of the piece directly above shows a perfectly quartersawn surface so I thought I'd get a shot of the ray flakes.


curly gaboon veneer pics contributed by Danny Tjan, whom I thank for these and other contributions to the site.

web pics:

plank listed as okume / Aucoumea klaineana and that has wet and dry sections


plank listed as okume / Aucoumea klaineana


planks


planks listed as okoume --- the yellow color on that last one is just silly


planks listed as okoume, all from the same vendor and all with both levels of enlargement. None of these were listed as figured but some of them do have at least a weak figure.


pen blanks listed as okoume


figured planks listed as okoume


figured okoume, all from the same vendor --- HUGE enlargements are present


veneer listed as okoume


figured quartersawn veneer --- the extreme yellow on the second sheet seems very unlikely


swirl veneer


veneer not listed as "figured" although it obviously is --- when I first encountered this wood on the internet, I though it was ALL figured, since that's all I ever saw, but that's not the case as you can see from many of the pics on this page, including my own samples.


figured veneer


listed as quartersawn figured veneer


gaboon veneer --- the first was listed as rotary cut and the second as sliced. Both levels of enlargement and the grain shows up quite well in the enlargements.


veneer, all from the same vendor, all listed as okoume, and none listed as figured, although certainly some of it is what most vendors would sell as figured.


veneer sheet closeups with both levels of enlargement available --- this is from the same vendor as the sheets directly above


nicely bookmatched figured gaboon veneer on the drawer and cabinet fronts of a cherry-body dresser


listed as gaboon marine plywood