African blackwood: the woodwind choice.

If you pick up a clarinet, piccolo, oboe or flute, chances are that woodwind instrument is made from African blackwood. It is one of the few species that has good tone, can be turned and bored easily, finishes beautifully and is hard enough to accept the metal screw threads of keys.

African blackwood belongs to the species Dalbergia, making it a member of the rosewood family, but with a black, not red, tinge to it. Commercially called African blackwood, it originates in a "rather extensive range in Savanna regions from Sudan southward to Mozambique, westward to Angola and then northward to Nigeria and Senegal" according to Martin Chudnoff, author of "Tropical Timbers of the World."

Stephan G. Taranko, vice president of the Hunter Trading Corp., Westport, Conn., sells grenadilla, or African blackwood, for the Hamburg, Germany-based Theodor Nagel Co. "A number of exotic hardwoods are used for the manufacture of musical instruments," said Taranko. "Without any doubt, one of the most important woods for wood instruments is grenadilla or African blackwood. Even though the grenadilla tree grows irregularly and is very 'defective,' the wood's special characteristics make it the best suited wood for wind instruments."

Taranko said that grenadilla, or African blackwood, came into use as substitute for another well-known dark wood. "Early merchants were always looking for an ebony substitute," he said. "Ebony's natural scarcity and high transportation costs - it had to be brought by land and sea from Sri Lanka through India across the mountain ranges of the Middle East to the Mediterranean region - made for a long, dangerous and expensive trip."

According to Taranko, it is "fairly certain that grenadilla was first introduced to Europe by Portuguese explorers. In 1497 King Manuel of Portugal sent Vasco da Gama to find a seaway to India, which would be safer and cheaper than the overland route. On his journey to India, Vasco da Gama landed on a small island in 1502, which became Mozambique. It is from there that pao preto, or blackwood, was brought to the old world," he said.

"Pao preto quickly became the preferred wood for making musical instruments. It was valued for both the working qualities of the wood and the tone of the finished instrument."

It is also used for bearings and slides, pulley blocks, inlay work, turnery, and carved figures such as chess pieces.

Dark hearted

African blackwood grows in conditions that can be very dry for long periods. It features a spherical crown and thorny branches and has a high resistance to climatic changes. Trees can grow as high as 30 feet, but commonly have defects in the trunk, including furrows, crooks and hollow hearts, which make it difficult to get long pieces of lumber.

The heartwood is very dark, ranging in color from a dark purple, to bluish black to dark brown. Black streaks are common. The sapwood is yellowish to white.

"It has excellent working qualities and takes a smooth finish, making it an ideal wood for use in wood-wind instruments, turnings, knife handles and brush backs," said Taranko. "Because of its hardness, density and oily nature, the wood absorbs hardly any moisture." It is also one of the heaviest woods used today, Taranko said, adding that with a weight of 80 pounds per cubic foot, it is impossible to float the logs.

Storage and drying tips

There is little shrinkage when dried. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service suggests that the timber be seasoned very slowly with end-coating of logs or billets. Drying times of two to three years and more are common and a kiln schedule T2-C2 is recommended for 4/4 stock and T2-C1 for 8/4. Without slow drying, heart shakes can be a problem. Another recommended method is partial drying in log or billet form, then conversion, end-coating and stacking under cover. Without careful seasoning, the wood will almost certainly degrade.

Taranko said proper storage of the wood is also necessary for the production of high-quality musical instruments. "Logs need to be carefully stored a minimum of one year to avoid the defects which arise when cutting freshly felled logs. Keeping a large inventory of the wood helps ensure a steady supply," he said. "Oboes, clarinets, bagpipes and piccolos all have different shapes and requirements," said Taranko. "It takes experience, skill and knowledge to produce the required sizes out of the defective grenadilla logs.

So once sought as a cheap replacement for ebony, this wood's denseness, oiliness and exceptional finishing properties make it a good choice all on its own. It also has replaced crocuswood as the choice for musical instruments.

And while it is rated as a highly durable wood, it is sometimes susceptible to attack by borers in the standing trees and the sapwood is vulnerable to attack by powder-post beetles.

Taranko said the annual growth of this species "exceeds by far the demand of the industrial nations. A shortage of this wood is not anticipated. Since it grows primarily in drought stricken areas with very little population, its domestic uses are limited primarily to firewood. A newly felled tree can be set on fire just by holding a match to it," he said.

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Family Names

Dalbergiamelanoxylon of the Family Leguminosae

Other Names

East African blackwood, African blackwood, Ebene de Mozambique, pao preto, grenadill, Cape danson, African ebony, dialbam, koffo, kio, jeti-edo, munjo, motangu, poyi, mpingo, muengom, samachi, and chella, funiti, shami, babanus, begbio, bokango faiti, rit, and tarem.

Height/Weight

Average height is 15 to 30 feet. Weight is 75 pounds per cubic foot with a specific gravity of 1.2.

Properties

African Blackwood is often dried in log or billet form, converted, end-coated and staccked covered. It is hard to cut and has a severe blunting effect minimized by the use of stellite or tungsten carbide-tipped saw teeth.