Afzelia | Tonewood Profile | “Afzelia xylocarpa”

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Natural History

Afzelia is a deciduous tree native to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Burma. It attains heights of 30 meters and a trunk diameter of 2 meters. The seeds can be processed into cigarettes and are often used for medicinal purposes. The highly figured examples are labelled as Afzelia Xylay although it is the same species.

It is also sometimes referred to as Monkey Pod although that is generally used to describe Albizia saman. There is a number of other woods traded as Afzelia, most commonly the Afzelia africana which as the name suggests is native to Africa. The physical characteristic are similar to xylocarpa although it has a lower Janka score.

Physical properties

General: Afzelia is hard and durable and reported to have resistance to termite attack. It smooth under friction and is dimensionally stable.

Appearance: The heartwood of Afzelia is a light yellow to reddish brown. It can be similar to Koa in terms of colouration. It can be found in highly figured logs and also in burl form.

Working: The grain is straight and can be interlocked.

Values: The Janka of Afzelia is approximate 2600 and the specific gravity is 0.6-0.7.

As a tonewood…

It is used for back and sides for guitars, where it compares favourably to the Koa.

Lone Wolf guitars finds it: “has an even tone with rich basses, clear mid-tones and crisp trebles.” which is similar to my experience.

Availability

Stocks of Afzelia are fair at present but expect shortages due to intensive harvesting.

Links/ References:
Protobase
Wikipedia
Lone Wolf Guitars

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