zebrawood

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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

zebrawood / Microberlinia brazzavillensis and Microberlinia bisulcata
5" x 5" flat cut, 5" x 5" quartersawn, 1" wide end grain, and a 1/4" x 1/4" end grain closeup.

Diffuse porous with large, sparse pores that have thick lozenge shaped (and occasionally wing shaped) aliform parenchyma. There is usually some diffuse-in-aggregates parenchyma and sometimes seemingly marginal parenchyma

You will rarely find zebrawood sold in flat cut form because most people consider the look somewhat ugly whereas the more commonly sold quartersawn and rift cut are considered much more attractive. Only one of my formal samples is flat cut (see below) and it will show exactly what I mean).

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 quartersawn zebrano / Microberlinia brazzavillensis --- 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

both sides of a sample plank of rift cut zebrawood / Microberlinia brazzavillensis --- 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 rift cut (almost quartersawn) zebrano / Microberlinia brazzavillensis --- 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 piece has some interesting, and unusual in my experience, grain indentations that look as though some of the normally very small rays started taking steroids. OR, possibly this is a sign of ingrown branches. Whatever it is, it manifests itself as lots of little bumps on the otherwise fairly straight face grain and as very large spiky rays in the end grain.

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

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of rift cut zebrawood / Microberlinia bisulcata --- 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 flat cut zebrawood / Microberlinia bisulcata --- 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 zebrawood / Microberlinia spp. --- HUGE enlargements are present. 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 zebrawood / Microberlinia spp. --- 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 was cut from the plank directly above.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

NOT a raw wood color
sample plank, with a finishing agent, shot in a woodworking store. HUGE enlargements are present

Misc planks photographed at lumber yards --- HUGE enlargements are present

planks shot at a lumber yard, dappled with sunlight --- HUGE enlargements are present. The sapwood is spalted on every plank.

plank and closeup and end grain shot

plank and end grain

plank and closeup --- the pics have a pink tint that is not in the wood

a couple of small pieces with end grain including one with some sapwood.

end grain closeups of the two small pieces directly above --- the color is slightly too dark and washed out

both END GRAIN UPDATES from directly above

planks

quartersawn plank showing edge grain of the type sometimes called "face grain", meaning "flat cut surface that is on the edge (but which is normally on the face)"

a bunch of small pieces cut from various flawed (cracked) larger planks

a set of very small planks from a mixed lot, and a closeup.

both sides of a small piece --- HUGE enlargements are present for both these and the pics directly below

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

a couple of small thin pieces

sections of a couple of shots I took at a lumber yard --- the right hand pic is of the same pile down below where the first pic was taken, and it shows some sapwood with a small amount stain that is either a mineral stain or the fairly common "blue stain"

two sections cut from the same long plank, and a closeup of the pair

plank

some small, thin planks

small plank purchased specifically because it has a knot area that has created some nice swirl in the pattern. Having now cut this up into smaller pieces to use in my bowls, I am glad I got it since the pieces did, as I had hoped the would, come out to be ones that will look great on the rim of a bowl.

small plank and end grain. I chose this one to photograph because of the very strong color contrast in the grain that almost makes it look like macassar ebony

end grain closeup of the piece directly above

set of small pieces, showing a wide variety of grain patterns and at least some variations in color. Both enlargements are available for all three pics and the color is particularly accurate on these.

face and end grain of two little pieces of spalted zebrawood that I got in a mixed lot

HIGH GRIT END GRAIN CLOSEUP from directly above

3 planks that I bought from the same vendor at the same time

small piece of zebrawood --- HUGE enlargements are present

a bunch of planks from a lumber yard. I color-corrected the pics as best I could but the color is a bit too pinkish.

large turning sticks

both sides and the end grain of an 8"x8"x2" bowl blank

a set of 6 bowl blanks, each 6"x6"x2"

quartersawn veneer

slightly more lively veneer (had a nice sheen to it)

absolute "classic" quartersawn zebrawood. In both color and grain pattern, this sheet is about as "typical" as you can find.

another veneer sheet just showing some variation in the pattern --- in this sheet, the light colored areas are larger and lighter than is usually the case, and the grain is more wavy than usual.

"bird's eye" zebrawood veneer --- the first sheet is 2 feet long and has absolutely no eyes at all but comes from a longer sheet that did in fact have a few "eyes", as shown in the 2nd pic. Reputable vendors list "bird's eye" zebrawood, but the number of eyes is a joke. These sheets are fairly representative and there are a couple of web pics down at the bottom of this page.

flat cut veneer sheet and closeup --- the color on the distance pic is just slightly off but the closeup is very accurate.

zebrawood veneer --- HUGE enlargements are present. This part of a collection which is discussed here: COLLECTION D

bookmatched zebrano veneer sheets and a closeup of another sheet --- pic contributed by Danny Tjan, whom I thank for these and other contributions to the site. HUGE enlargements are present for the closeup, showing the grain in great detail.

mildly oddball plank that was on sale at a wood show

web pics:

planks with both wet and dry sections; the first was listed as zebrawood, the second as zebrawood / Microberlinia bisculcata (and note that this is an incorrect spelling of what should be Microberlinia bisulcata). The purple color in the first one is very unlikely.

nice shot of end grain

both sides of a really nice flat cut plank --- as you can see from the pics on this page, zebrawood is usually quartersawn since that's what gives it the distinctive zebra striping, but obviously flat cut can have spectacular results. The yellow color is almost certainly exaggerated.

bookmatched flat cut planks

flat cut plank quartersawn planks and closeup, listed as zebrawood / Microberlinia brazzavillensis

flat cut planks

quartersawn planks listed as zebrawood / Microberlinia Brazzavillensis

quartersawn planks listed as Microberlinia bisculata

misc quartersawn planks

two sides and a closeup of a quartersawn plank

quartersawn plank and closeup --- I'm sure that the color in the pics is more green than the wood really is

misc planks

planks, all from the same vendor --- colors are undoubtedly a bit richer than the actual wood

planks all from the same vendor and listed as zebrawood / Microberlinia brazzavillensis --- colors are very accurate

planks, all from the same vendor and listed as zebrawood / Microberlinia brazzavillensis --- these all show sapwood with numerous bug (or worm) holes that show up very well in the 2nd enlargement

plank and closeup

a closeup

an unusually swirly piece

on these two pics of long planks, there is an apparent optical interference pattern in the picture that goes away when you click to the biggest enlargement

planks --- on the very last pic, the color includes too much yellow to be anywere near normal.

planks --- the first two have WAY too much red and the last one looks very accurate in color

various pieces, all from the same vendor and all listed as zebrawood / Microberlinia brazzavillensis

bowl blanks

bowl blanks edge grain

turning stock all listed as zebrawood Microberlinia brazzavillensis

turning stock

turning stock (enlargement gets rid of the optical interference pattern that makes the lines look jagged)

pen blanks listed as zebrawood / Microberlinia brazzavillensis

pen blanks, all from the same owner

pen blanks

plank, side grain and end grain --- this is from the BogusColorVendor so the red color on the top of the side grain is likely bogus. The upper surface on the top of the side grain picture shows another example of what flat cut zebrawood looks like and also shows quite clearly how the difference in cutting results in the quartersawn zebra-strip look and the swirly-grain flat cut look.

scales

end grain scales

end grain cutting board

pen blanks with way off-color greed tint --- zebrawood can have a green tint, but nothing like this.

quartersawn veneer listed as Microberlinia bisulcata

veneer listed as Microberlinia brazzavillensis --- first a flat cut piece, then a quartersawn piece, then a quartersawn bookmatched pair

flat cut veneer

quartersawn veneer --- some of these colors are just silly

veneer, all from the same vendor, and it's a vendor whos pics tend to make veneer look more bland than it really is

veneer sheet closeup with both levels of enlargement

"birdseye" veneer --- a VERY few tiny eyes doesn't (to me anyway) justify calling this birdseye.

spalted veneer

a zebrawood cabinet (and closeups) found in a Hyatt hotel in Jersey City. The lighting was poor and my flash could not overcome it, so the distance pic appears much more washed out than the cabinet really was. The last closeup gives a better representation of what the wood really looks like, but none of these pics really does justice to the piece.

chair

bowl turned by one of my correspondents, whose name I have temporarily misplaced

guitar --- very nice use of flat cut zebrawood

guitar back of quartersawn zebrawood

guitar back listed as zebrawood / Microberlina brazzavillensis

the top of a jewelry box made from the bookmatched pieces of a rift cut plank with sapwood (the two pieces are bookmatched diagonally on the box-top, so the sapwood is in the middle) and it appears to be either blue stained or spalted or both. The boxtop is rectangular --- I took the pic from too close up and got photographic "ballooning" which is why it doesn't look quite rectangular.

bowls --- really nicely done set

two views of a bowl

12"x3" bowl turned and photographed by John Fuher, who has it as zebrano. Huge enlargements are present which show the grain very nicely, although John had the F-stop too low so only the foreground is in focus. Thanks for the pic John.

bowls

top and side views of a bowl

three objects made from zebrawood, all by the same artisan --- both levels of enlargement are present.

Two bowls by Steve Earis. The first has what I see as unusually good color representation in the pic and Steve tells me that's at least partially because it had no finish on it at the time of the pic. The first is 7" across and unfinished and the second is 7.5" across and has one coat of Danish oil and has been buffed.

shallow bowls

bowls by Bryan Nelson (NelsonWood). Bryan fine-polishes his bowls with 1200 or even higher grit sandpaper while they are spinning at high speed on the lathe and then finishes them there with a friction polish of his own devising, thus achieving a shine and color vibrancy that is beautiful to behold. These bowls are all about 5" across.

some bowls that I shot at a craft store that mostly sold wooden bowls. The second one was on a stand that made it about waist height and that's a salad tossing "fork" in it (the second of the pair is just visible over the rim).

from the ones for sale in this store, my wife bought this bowl for our daughter. I like the way the wood layup allows all the surfaces to be quartersawn grain since I think flat cut would have made it a bit garish. HUGE enlargements are present

turned boxes with acorn styled tops

hollow forms and two bowls

zebrawood highlight on one of my laminated bowls. On the left is the raw wood and on the right is after a single application of natural stain. Polyurethane will follow later. The enlargements will show particularly clearly how the pores are quite visible. They (the pores) show up quite white in the raw pic but that's because they are clogged with zebrawood sawdust. After the stain was applied they were less visible, although certainly not INvisible. With the application of polyurethane, they will become quite subdued.

zebrawood "ashtray bowl" that I turned, with and without the ashtray insert. It is 7" across and 2" high. HUGE enlargements are present and they show the grain in great detail

Two pics of a small bowl I turned for a relative. It is 6" across and 2" high and the finish is a base coat of natural stain then two coats of rattle can satin-finish polyurethane. HUGE enlargements are present.

two views of a zebrawood candle holder that I did. HUGE enlargements are present.