In the world of woodworking and construction, balancing visual appeal, structural integrity, and the price is integral to keeping any project within budget and not paying more than you have to.
Oftentimes, this pushes woodworkers to find alternatives to certain high-value woods that might sacrifice a few key traits here and there, but overall, provide the same quality for a lower price.
One of these alternative woods is Sapele. If you’re not familiar with it, stick around. We’ll cover what it is and its most common uses.
What is Sapele Wood?
Sapele is a hardwood that is most commonly sourced in Nigeria. It’s a massive part of the Nigerian economy, and in terms of woodworking, it’s the perfect alternative to mahogany.
Like mahogany, Sapele is an extremely hard wood with a dense internal structure. This gives it a remarkable tensile strength, high surface durability, and great resistance to the elements and aging when treated properly. It also has a fairly similar coloring; ranging from golden to dark red in color, Sapele can easily provide a similar visual result as mahogany in any of the woodworking projects it’s used for.
However, it can tend to be a little more prone to warping, and its grain structure is more tangled than mahogany; so, there is still a fair amount of visual distinction between the two.
Since sapele grows more readily, and it’s so similar to mahogany, it makes for a much more affordable mahogany alternative without forcing you to sacrifice too much performance value or visual appeal.
What is Sapele Wood Used for?
Sapele is used for practically anything mahogany is. After all, it’s an alternative to mahogany.
Here are some of the major projects most woodworkers use it for.
Furniture:
Few woodworkers would turn down the ability to craft beautiful mahogany furniture if not for the high price of the wood itself. Luckily, Sapele offers a reasonably priced alternative that practically any woodworker can afford to work with. Its coloring and high durability resemble mahogany perfectly, but its grain structure gives Sapele furniture a more exotic appearance; allowing for some real creativity in the woodworking process.
Worktops:
A woodworking bench requires a hardwood top. If it’s made from soft wood, it’ll get dented up and beaten to the point of uselessness within a few projects. Unfortunately, the most sought-after hardwoods are simply too expensive for many woodworkers to use for something that’s just going to get beat on.
Sapele’s mahogany-like qualities allow for a budget-friendly work surface that can withstand the abuse of a workshop without costing more than the projects being done on it. This makes Sapele worktops a growing option among woodworkers.
Structural Work:
In construction, Sapele is often used to craft support beams and other internal structures due to its high tensile strength and durability combined with its lower cost over more traditional options. However, it can also be used for other parts of home construction such as exotic walkways, door frames, cabinetry, and various other parts of a home.