Article: Wenge: a tough act to follow. (Wood of the Month)

"Hard," "exotic" and "quite attractive" are words often used to describe wenge. But despite its popularity 10 to 15 years ago, especially in Europe, it is rarely used much in North America except for specialty items, turnery and architectural uses.

Ulli Kaempfe, export sales manager for Interforest Ltd., based in Durham, Ontario, Canada, said he sees "almost no inquiries for the wood, which is actually quite attractive and warm."

One reason could be because wenge is a tough wood to deal with from start to finish because of its open pore nature, Kaempfe said. Another drawback to using wenge is its tendency to change color in the sunlight. Kaempfe said that the ...

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