pau marfim

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PAU MARFIM

Balfourodendron riedelianum
Balfourodendron riedelianum of the family Rutaceae. Native to Brazil; other widely used common names include pau liso, ivory wood, and guatambu, BUT ... guatambu is a common name used by MANY other woods, all of them in the genus Aspidosperma, not the genus Balfourodendron so it is a bad choice of common name for this species.

There are at least 7 other species from 4 genera that also have the name ivorywood as all or part of one or more of their common names, so there is great possibility for confusion with this wood. I cannot say with any confidence that all of the pics on this page are of Balfourodendron riedelianum

My thanks to Ron Greig for alerting me to the fact that ivory wood and guatambu are the same 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 pau marfim / Balfourodendron riedelianum --- 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 pau marfim / Balfourodendron riedelianum --- 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 piece of guatambu / Balfourodendron riedelianum --- 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 side has a slight 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

NOT A RAW WOOD COLOR --- both faces of this sample have a light coat of clear paste wax
both sides of a laminated sample plank of "bearclaw" pau marfim (gautambu) / Balfourodendron riedelianum --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. Although the end grain shows no sign of indented grain, I think it is none the less legitimate for Mark to designate this as "bearclaw" and if the cut were further over, I think it would show indented end grain. The bearclaw lines are much more clear in enlargements of the angled shot at the bottom of this set of pics.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above and an angle shot that shows the "bear claw" indentations more clearly than the straight-on face grain shot

both sides of a plank of guatambu / Balfourodendron riedelianum --- 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

a long veneer sheet (sold to me as "ivory wood") and a couple of closeups; color on the distance pic is quite accurate --- the closeups are just a little more washed out than the actual wood

web pics: