Comments on: Ekki

By: Alex

Alex — Thu, 06 Feb 2025 09:06:40 +0000

I have a steel bridge with ekki hardwood boards and rail. The wood has turn a grey colour and I would like to know is it worth rubbing down and oiling the wood to get back to the redish colour it had?
If so what oil do you suggest I use?

By: Daniel Huyghebaert

Daniel Huyghebaert — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 23:11:01 +0000

This wood gives off a very bad smell when it is machined because of the heat. This smell decreases greatly when the wood cools down and disappears when the wood is varnished.

By: William Vilda

William Vilda — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 22:02:53 +0000

In reply to john watt. jw- It may have smelled like those, but I don't remember . Sorry .

By: Gee-Wesic Bayee, II

Gee-Wesic Bayee, II — Sat, 12 Feb 2022 11:48:36 +0000

The tree (ekki) can easily be found in River Gee, Grand Gedeh, Sinoe and Nimba Counties in Liberia, West Africa. Everywhere in River Gee (Kiteabo & Glarro) the tree can be found.

By: William Vilda

William Vilda — Sat, 19 Jun 2021 03:59:48 +0000

In reply to john watt. Yes, those are two odors that would fit. The odor actually frightened me, and I never again sawed any of the pieces I purchased from the chemical plant. The odor, of course, may have come from absorbed chemicals still in the wood.

By: WoodDood

WoodDood — Thu, 06 May 2021 03:17:38 +0000

In reply to john watt. Yes! So this is what I have exactly then. I wasn't sure because it looks like ekki but according to the Wood Database, there's no odor. But is there ever! Stinks like feet and vomit! Since it was reclaimed wood that I was using, I assumed it was due to that. So I cleaned it with dish soap as you do for reclaimed wood. No change. And man is this stuff hard to cut...blunts everything.

By: James Cunningham

James Cunningham — Mon, 15 Mar 2021 12:51:41 +0000

Back in the late 70’s I worked in Nigeria for African Timber and Plywood Ltd., Sapele in Bendel State as it was then. The original Sawmill building which was mainly built with local timber around 1950 had a stilt foundation of Ekki wood which was removed in 1980 to accommodate a new mill and was as good as the day it was installed. It was 300 x 300 x 12000mm. The timber was reused as bearers in the log steam pits for the Plymill and may very well be still there till now. This wood is best milled when fresh cut.

By: john watt

john watt — Tue, 29 Sep 2020 20:15:26 +0000

In reply to William Vilda. did it smell like nasty cheese / vomit by any chance ?

By: William Vilda

William Vilda — Tue, 07 Jul 2020 20:17:07 +0000

Ekki wood also apparently has a resistance to certain chemicals. Pieces of it were used at a chemical plant (where I was formerly employed) instead of metals . The pieces of wood used were about the dimensions of 2×6 construction lumber, and about 3 feet long. I’m not sure what they were used for at the plant, but it may have been used in the manufacture or storage of fuming sulfuric acid ( oleum). This plant could have used any material they wished, but they chose Ekki wood. I recently tried to cut some of the pieces I purchased from the plant on my table saw, but the strange and strong odor discouraged me from any further cutting. I had purchased the wood about 25 years earlier, and stored it in a shed.

By: Eric

Eric — Sat, 04 Apr 2020 03:51:23 +0000

In reply to sven. Looks good, nice to see what the sapwood looks like too.