My current client approached me with the request to make him kitchen countertops out of Boekenhout which he would supply. When he said that the timber had been sawn on his farm in Limpopo, I became more interested, especially when he said the timber had an orangey brown colour. I thought Boekenhout only grows in the Southern Cape and is the colour of, well, Boekenhout. When the timber arrived, it didn’t look like any Boekenhout I had ever seen and I thought he probably made a mistake.
Some research later and I could identify it as Transvaal Boekenhout, Faurea saligna and a member of the Protea family. The grain pattern is rather similar to Boekenhout or Cape beech, Rapanea melanophloeos. There is also a hint of Terblans in some pieces, which explains the Protea connection.
Its working qualities are unusual. The jointer doesn’t produce shavings, it looks more like sawdust. I don’t know if the batch I got is just exceptionally dry but machining it produces an incredible amount of dust. Just making one cut on the table saw fills the air with a very fine dust. It saws easily but I get sparks off the blade! Huh? Not all the time but occasionally. Explain that to me! Anyway, Transvaal Boekenhout hand planes reasonably well and sands easily. It looks like it will finish very well. I will know next week when I varnish.
It is a beautiful wood and I am glad for having the opportunity to work it. Lots of offcuts available if any one is interested.