Zebrawood is a high-density hardwood from west Africa with a light brown to cream coloring, with blackish brown streaks running throughout. These streaks resemble the stripes on a zebra, hence the name. While normally sold strictly as zebrawood, both quartersawn (straight vertical lines) and flat sawn (sporadic oak like cathedral lines) can generally be found within a bundle of lumber. The grain is open and course and is generally interlocked. Because of this open and interlocking grain, machining and turning can be difficult, but this species does glue and finish well, although the large open pores would benefit from a grain filler. Zebrawood is rated durable to both rot and insect attacks. It has been used for flooring, furniture, boat building, as well as many craft and turned projects. It has a Janka hardness rating of 1830 and weighs 4.2 pounds per board foot.
VARIATIONS AND OPTIONS
4/4 refers to lumber that was cut at 1 inch thickness
15/16ths has been skip planed (a majority of the surfacing work has been done, there may be a few spots that are still rough, but the grain of the particular piece of wood should be visible)
13/16ths is commonly called finish planed. This should be ready for sanding and finish
Ripped 1 edge is lumber that has been run through a straight-line rip saw. This allows for easy squaring on a table saw.
Sanded refers to a select few lumber options that have been run through a belt sander and are 100% finish ready.
5/4 lumber was sawn at 1.25 inches in thickness.
6/4 lumber was sawn at 1.5 inches in thickness.
8/4 lumber was sawn at 2 inches in thickness.
10/4 lumber was sawn at 2.5 inches in thickness.
12/4 lumber was sawn at 3 inches in thickness.