limba

open main page for all woods open page 2 for articles

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

limba / Terminalia superba
(syn Terminalia altissima)
Two loosely related woods are idigbo / Terminalia ivorensis, which looks a little bit like limba and nargusta (Terminalia amazonia) neither of which looks much like limba nor do they have particularly similar anatomical characteristics. They DO both use the name "limba" according to my references but I don't think that's true in the U.S.A

5" x 5" flat cut, 5" x 5" quartersawn, 3/4" wide end grain, and a 1/4" x 1/4" end grain closeup.

Diffuse porous with medium to large sparsely and randomly distributed pores with winged aliform parenchyma. Frequent pore multiples, usually radial, 2 to 3 pores long, often some confluent parenchyma, sometimes diffuse-in-aggregates parenchyma which occasionally appears to be banded parenchyma. Very thin rays, hard to see even at 10X

NOTE: This site previously had separate pages for white and black limba because I shared what I now know to be a common misconception among us woodworkers that those are separate (albeit related) woods. In fact, all limba comes from the same tree and the "white" and "black" designations are based on color and grain. See the color section of the "fact sheet" for full details.

I have kept the "white" and "black" sections separate below

internet pics of pieces that clearly show both the white and the black --- these have sharp demarcation, but that is not always the case.

both sides of a plank and a closeup --- the "black" section is just along one edge

LIMBA, WHITE

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 flat cut white limba (frake) / Terminalia superba --- 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 sample plank of quartersawn white limba (frake) / Terminalia superba --- 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 sample plank of white limba / Terminalia superba --- 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

both sides of a sample plank of white limba / Terminalia superba --- 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

both sides of a sample plank of (white) limba / Terminalia superba --- 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 vendor, who is very unreliable when it comes to designating figure, has this as "bird's eye" which it definitly is not. There are some nifty swirls in the grain and an indented grain (see end grain update below) which do make for a very interesting figure, but just because it's interesting doesn't make it bird's eye. The labeled side is raw but the 2nd side has been sanded to 240 grit and so shows details better and is a sligtly lighter color.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above. Note the indented grain that is at least part of the reason for the interesting figure.

NOTE: all of the pics below are from a solid piece about 2"x2"x3' most generously donated to the site by Jim Glynn, whom I thank for the gift. Both levels of enlargement are available on all of these, so you can see the markings and the grain up close.

small plank

a couple of small plank sections and the same moistened with water

end grain --- the last pic is of the same piece as the first one, but moistened with water

Jim pointed out to me that the markings, whether orange or just dark brown, seem to be accompanied in most cases by holes made by whatever sort of boring insect likes to bore in white limba. In other words, Jim is suggesting that the markings are basically bug poop. Now Jim works around boats and it is possible that he had inhaled too much fumes from an industrial strength solvent of some kind before making that suggestion. Ah, no wait ... he made that suggestion in my kitchen, and I don't have any industrial strength solvents there and he was nowhere near the amonia, so hmm ... maybe he has a point.

end grain closeups from a plank that came off the same piece as those above --- color is very accurate

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

End of Jim Glynn's samples

a section totally devoid of any character-enhancing markings. The color is a little too yellow.

fiddleback veneer --- a true fiddleback, technically, but really too weak a figure to use on the back of a fiddle. I note that the veneer is significantly different in color (much more yellow) than the solid and I have no explanation for this.

veneer sample listed as just "limba" but clearly this is white limba --- HUGE enlargements are present. This part of a collection which is discussed here: COLLECTION D

web pics:

(for WHITE limba)

plank listed as limba / Terminalia superba and that has wet and dry sections

planks

bookmatched white limba planks --- this was listed as curly but most vendors would sell this as fiddleback

white limba planks listed as "waterfall figure", which I have not seen other than in this listing. It appears to just be a curly figure with wide separation between curls

quartersawn veneer

veneer --- neither specifically listed as quartersawn but both appear to be

fiddleback veneer

listed as "Africa" limba

white limba listed as korina

white limba (listed as korina) figured veneer

guitar blank of white limba listed as korina and a closeup

LIMBA, BLACK

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 black limba / Terminalia superba --- 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

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

Jim Glynn donated the samples shown below. Thanks Jim. All of the pics of these solid pieces that Jim gave me are a little too light.

two sides of a piece of turning stock

end grain of the sample above --- 2nd level enlargement is available

a couple of solid wedges, just showing more grain variety --- the wood actually has more of a green tint that what shows in these pics.

end grain closeup from the piece on the right directly above this --- color is a just a hair too green

End Jim Glenn's samples

plank

both sides of a plank, showing pure "white limba" on one side, "black limba" on the other. This was cut from the middle of the larger plank directly above

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

plank

plank and end grain (piece cut from the larger plank directly above)

end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above --- the update is from the other end and it had a bad gouge in it that I did not get all the way out but there is plenty of area in the pic that shows the fine grain detail so I decided not to rework it.

set of small planks and a closeup of a couple of them

both sides of a small sample piece of black limba

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

guitar back in progress, being made by my friend John Cooper. The wood is two book matched thinwood pieces of black limba.

The first pic is a couple of sheets and the next two are closeups from them. The color, which is more red than is usual for limba, is quite well captured in the pics.

more veneer, also with accurate color

veneer --- curly, shiny, and beautiful; actual color has just a shade more green in it (not as extreme as the sheets directly above this set, but a touch in that direction)

two solid pieces and a closeup of one --- pictures provided by John Ming of Heirloom Woodworking. John tells me he found the red streaks in only a very few places. These pieces have been finished with blond shellac sealer and then multiple coats of lacquer, but John says that didn't change the color much, but based on other pictures it would appear that at the least, the finishing agent brought out the yellow considerably.

NOTE: I now have a piece of white limba, donated by Jim Glynn, that has an almost identical orange streak as that seen in the pic directly above, and you can see it at the top of this page.

web pics:

(for black limba)
the ones with reddish tint are probably not true color (they may have all come from the BogusColorVendor). I have never seen this wood have any orange in it at all (other that bug poop streaks which can be very orange but are very localized), but the pics DO tend to come out showing orange so if they aren't properly corrected, this is what you'll get. The pics of my veneer samples came out originally with a noticeable orange tint, although nothing as strong as what is in many of these pics.

planks listed as black limba / Terminalia superba

planks listed as black limba / Terminalia superba, all from the same vendor and all with both levels of enlargement present

planks listed as black limba --- both levels of enlargement are present. Some of these have a light curl

these two pieces were listed as shedua but I am absolutely confident that they are black limba

planks

bookmatched planks

an oiled plank

fiddleback black limba plank

veneer listed as black frake / Terminalia superba

veneer all from the same dealer --- none of this was listed as curly or fiddleback although it obviously is

veneer

both sides and a closeup of a plank from the BogusColorVendor so the orange color is very suspect

"striped" black limba plank and closeup

veneer with what I take to be very accurate color, although as usual this vendor has added a shine to the pics that I am sure is not present in the real wood. I've bought many lots from this vendor and her wood is NEVER shiny the way her pics are: UH ... well, I may have to take that back in this case; I bought some veneer from another vendor and it DOES have a shine similar to this vendor's pics. Still, I HAVE bought many lots from her where the shine in her pics does not exist in the wood.

match pair of thin sheets for guitar back --- orange color is suspect

guitar-back blanks of black limba

two black limba guitars and a closeup of the second one

black limba bowl by Bryan Nelson (NelsonWood)

black limba turned object designated as a "vessel", which is a correct designation, but I think most turners would call it a hollow form

black limba section on a laminated bowl. The pic on the left is just off the lathe and the one on the right is after one coat of natural stain.