Solid Obeche Wood Sheet

Our supply: Stock material
Thickness: Available in 3mm and 6mm
Sheet sizes: 915×100mm only

Material Properties

A soft, very light wood with a beautiful silky-matt surface. Obeche sheet is made from Triplochiton Scleroxylon, a tropical tree of Africa. The grain Line runs horizontally with the longer length of the material.

Typical applications

Carpentry and marquetry, Furniture, Jewellery, Movie props, Model making, Product design.

Appearance & grainline

Natural obeche is only available in a sheet size of 915mm x 100mm. The grain line runs horizontally with the longer length of the sheet. As a natural material, please be aware that the tone of the wood can vary from sheet to sheet.

Laser cutting

Obeche is laser cut with protective paper backing applied to both faces to minimise burn marks and ensure the cleanest result. Occasionally a subtle discolouration can occur around the surrounding area of the cut line if the backing has not adhered fully to the surface. In most cases these marks are unnoticeable but they can be easily sanded off with a fine grit wet and dry paper if required.

Cut widths & Kerf

The average cutting kerf (how much the laser takes away) for obeche is +/- 0.1mm. As a benchmark, we recommend that minimum cut widths be no smaller than the corresponding thickness of the material. For example, if cutting from 3mm obeche, it is best not to allow any widths less than 3mm. We can go smaller (see cut width image above) but this can make your components quite fragile which might not be suitable for the application. See more on cut widths and Kerf (how much the laser takes away.)

Cut edge

Laser cuts with a brown / yellow tinge edge.

Raster and vector engraving

We have established optimised engraving settings for all our own supply materials. For obeche the marking is a shallow light surface scratching and has a brown / yellow appearance. As standard we engrave through the protective backing (applied for laser cutting) into the obeche surface. You will need to remove all the protective backing once you receive your job.

Variation in engraved finish

Please be aware that as a natural material, slight variation in the tone of the engraved finish can occur from sheet to sheet. Tone of wood, grain line and density and moisture content all have an impact on the engraving tone. Variation in tone can also be affected by power distribution if you have lots of pieces of artwork to engrave that vary in size.

Deeper engraving

If you would like your engraving to be deeper than our standard settings, you will need to specify this in your job request. Deeper engraving will be carried out through the protective backing in the same format as standard raster engraving. Be aware that the higher laser power and slower processing speeds required can cause more oils from the wood to be released.