| Millettia laurentii | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Tree in flower | |
 | |
| Tangentially-sawn wood | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Faboideae |
| Genus: | Millettia |
| Species: | M. laurentii |
| Binomial name | |
| Millettia laurentii | |
| Wenge | |
|---|---|
 Color coordinates | |
| Hex triplet | #645452 |
| sRGBB (r,g,b) | (100, 84, 82) |
| HSV (h,s,v) | (7°, 18%, 39%) |
| CIELChuv (L,C,h) | (37, 10, 20°) |
| Source | [1] |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) | |
Millettia laurentii is alegume tree from Africa and is native to theRepublic of Congo, theDemocratic Republic of Congo,Cameroon,Gabon andEquatorial Guinea. The species is listed as "endangered" in theIUCN Red List, principally due to the destruction of its habitat andover-exploitation for timber.[1]Wenge, a dark coloured wood, is the product ofMillettia laurentii. Other names sometimes used for wenge includefaux ebony,dikela,mibotu,bokonge, andawong. The wood's distinctive colour is standardised as a "wenge" colour in many systems.
Wenge (/ˈwɛŋɡeɪ/WENG-gay) is a tropical timber, very dark in colour with a distinctive figure and pattern. The wood is heavy and hard, suitable for flooring and staircases.
Severalmusical instrument makers employ wenge in their products.Mosrite used it for bodies of their Brass Rail models.Ibanez and Cort use it for the five-piece necks of some of their electric basses.Warwick electric basses useFSC sourced wenge for fingerboards and necks as of 2013. It is also used by Yamaha as the centre ply of their Absolute Hybrid Maple drums.[2]
The wood is popular insegmented woodturning because of its dimensional stability and colour contrast when mixed with lighter woods such asmaple. This makes it especially sought after in the manufacture of high-end woodcanes and chess boards.
The wood is sometimes used in the making ofarcherybows, particularly as a laminate in the production offlatbows. It can also be used in the making of rails or pin blocks onhammered dulcimers.
The wood may also be used forkendamas. Though a ken could be made entirely out of wenge, it's generally used to substitute a portion of the big/small cups[3] while the rest of the ken is made out of a softer, less dense wood. This concentration of weight in the big and/or small cup facilitates balance tricks such as lunars.
The dust produced when cutting or sanding wenge can causedermatitis similar to the effects ofpoison ivy and is an irritant to the eyes. The dust also can cause respiratory problems and drowsiness.[citation needed] Splinters areseptic, similar to those of greenheart (the wood ofChlorocardium rodiei).
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: others (link)Hybrid Maple Shell (center Wenge ply)