merbau

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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

merbau / Intsia spp.
4" x 4" 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, randomly spaced pores with lozenge shaped aliform parenchyma, infrequent confulent parenchyma, frequent pore multiples in random directions, banded parenchyma (marginal?), rays tightly spaced and clearly visible at 10X, growth ring boundaries vague to distinct.

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 kwila / Intsia bijuga --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. Note that the first face was sanded to 240 grit and the second face was not and this accounts for minor differences in color between the two (the second face still has a patina) and the better resolution of the detail characteristics as seen in the first one.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of merbau / Intsia bijuga --- 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 Moluccan ironwood (=merbau) / Intsia bijuga --- HUGE enlargements are present. The first side is sanded and the second side still has an age patina.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of merbau / Intsia spp. --- HUGE enlargements are present.

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

flooring sample and end grain

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

flooring sample and end grain

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

both sides and the end grain of a sample (HUGE enlargements are present)

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

both sides of a plank of Moluccan ironwood (= merbau) / Intsia bijuga --- HUGE enlargements are present. I bought this from the BogusColorVendor and their misrepresentation of the wood color is shown below.

closeup of the plank directly above

Just another of their standard serious over-saturation in the red hue. This is actually almost accurate by their standards. These do not show the exact same plank but their pic of the plank I bought was identical in color to the one shown.

kwila veneer --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sheet was contributed to the site by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

web pics:

NOTE: the colors are all over the map on this. I can only say that the ones close to my own sample are believable and consistent with the information in the fact sheet, and the others are not.