Common Name(s): Katalox, Mexican ebony
Scientific Name: Swartzia cubensis
Distribution: Southern Mexico, Central America, and northern South America
Tree Size: 100-130 ft (30-40 m) tall,
2-4 ft (.6-1.2 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 71.6 lbs/ft3 (1,150 kg/m3)
Specific Gravity (Basic, 12% MC): 0.94, 1.15
Janka Hardness: 3,660 lbf (16,260 N)
Modulus of Rupture: 28,010 lbf/in2 (193.2 MPa)
Elastic Modulus: 3,715,000 lbf/in2 (25.62 GPa)
Crushing Strength: 15,240 lbf/in2 (105.1 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 3.9%, Tangential: 7.6%,
Volumetric: 11.2%, T/R Ratio: 1.9
Color/Appearance: Heartwood is dark reddish brown to nearly black, sometimes with a strong purple hue. Sapwood is sharply demarcated and is pale yellowish white. Pieces with curly or wavy grain are not uncommon.
Grain/Texture: Grain is usually straight, but can also be irregular or interlocked. With a fine even texture and good natural luster.
Rot Resistance: Varies depending upon species, but generally very durable. Heartwood is usually considered to have a high resistance to decay and termites; though it is susceptible to marine borers.
Workability: Katalox is typically considered difficult to work on account of its high density. The wood has a moderate to high blunting effect on cutters, and if there is interlocked grain present, tearout can occur during planing. Can be troublesome to glue because of its high density and natural oils present.
Odor: Katalox has a very faint odor when being worked.
Allergies/Toxicity: Katalox has been reported to cause respiratory irritation in some individuals. See the articles Wood Allergies and Toxicity and Wood Dust Safety for more information.
Pricing/Availability: Usually available in turning squares or as figured lumber (generally with a large amount of sapwood present). Expect prices to be in the mid to upper range for an imported tropical hardwood.
Sustainability: This wood species is not listed in the CITES Appendices or on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Common Uses: Inlays, fine furniture and cabinetry, parquet flooring, guitars, turnings, and other small specialty items.
Comments: Katalox has exceptional strength properties, and is among the very stiffest and strongest woods available worldwide. Its dark color makes it a popular substitute for ebony, and the wood is sometimes called Mexican Royal Ebony, though it is not a true ebony in the Diospyros genus.
Images: Drag the slider up/down to toggle between raw and finished wood.
Identification: See the article on Hardwood Anatomy for definitions of endgrain features.
Porosity: diffuse porous
Arrangement: solitary and radial multiples
Vessels: medium to large, moderately few to few; amber and reddish brown heartwood deposits common
Parenchyma: winged, confluent, and banded
Rays: narrow (only visible with magnification); close spacing
Lookalikes/Substitutes: Darker pieces of katalox can sometimes be confused with (and used in place of) true ebony (Diospyros spp.).
Notes: Growth rings not apparent.
Related Content:
I bought a piece of Katalox today. I want to use it for a rifle stock butt plate. How is the best way to attach it to the stock?
PRS guitars made necks out of Katalox on some models. Very hard and apparently difficult to work with in that it dulls tools easily. Makes for a very smooth playable and stable guitar neck.
Can someone answer a question for me? Information I’ve read on Katalox says as it ages that it turns darker almost black. Anyone have an idea of how long that process takes?
Late reply but other people might be interested. I’ve been working with katalox the last few months, chunky boards I cut into are orange/pink in the middle, see pic, although where cracks run down and through the wood the colour around them is almost black, which can look really good. More generally you’ll see a fair bit of colour change over a few days, perhaps a week before it fully slows down, thought I suspect it will slowly carry on changing for months if not years. I’ve immediately oiled and waxed pieces after carving and seen them continue to change,… Read more »
Hey rob,
Do you think this wood would make an excellent axe handle given the mechanical properties? ONly concern might be the schock it may transmit in the axe handle to your hands from chopping and wood splitting. I intend to use it for a sledge axe. Would look epic!
Well it’s definitely strong enough! But at least on the pieces I have, the grain is often not straight, so thats something to look out for. How the wood handles vibration, not something I could comment on too much, but I suspect it wouldnt have much damping in it. Probably have to try it to find out…
I have two katalox guitar neck blanks, bot with a slight bow. Do any of you guys know of any good ways to straighten these things out without having to remove any material? The blanks are about 40 inches long, and around 3/4 of an inch thick. Any help would be greatly appreciated
Steam bending. Check YouTube videos
I’m trying to use it as a headstock cap and so far my suggestion is to set them afire and be done with it. This is the worst wood I have ever used for anything. Straight up. I can’t say anything nice about whoever introduced this wood to the industry.
Use it for laminations. Who wants a whole neck made from one of the hardest and densest woods in the world? It’s a waste of precious wood and overkill. Electric guitar sustain can be (and mostly is) achieved through the electronics!
Just turned this Katalox bowl yesterday; smells like bacon bits and definitely called for a respirator (nose lining started burning when I first rounded the blank without a respirator). Cuts wonderfully (smooth and no tear out) but it does dull tools about as quickly as purpleheart, cocobolo or teak. This bowl is sanded to 600 and then wax+rottenstone polished but no finish was applied.
I will testify this is a difficult wood to work with. Dried, it chipped my brand new gouge, it wore my sander so far that the sander went on vacation in Mexico.Sand paper cowered, but I tamed it. Hardest wood I’ve worked with.
Would you be able to use Katalox for a cutting board? Or even an end grain cutting board?
You can probably use it to make your cutting device if you wanted to. I was able to sharpen a piece to razor sharpness. Granted the edge would snap off very jaggedly if it touched any other Katalox. It’s an interesting wood, just not something I want to deal with again.
The mexican EBANO its the “Ebenopsis ebano”, localy known as Ebano or Mahuacata.you can find it in the north-east estates of México (San Luis Potosi, Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas and the south Texas area. The hearth of the tree its dark brown almost black and the sapwood its yelow-cream color. Its very dense and durable.
Hello I’m building a 35×90 butcher block table top desk with drawers on either side I want to use katalox for the table top but I want a different wood for the drawers it needs to be tough not yellowish and with an interesting grain pattern any suggestions? Thank you
By the way this is my first butcher block tabletop I’ve made butcher block cutting boards before and there usually between 2 and 1 inch thick will it be okay If I make it between 1/2 an inch and an inch in thickness
Thanks
Hello I’m building a 35x90x1 butcher block table top desk with drawers on either side I want to use katalox for the table top but I want a different wood for the drawers it needs to be tough not yellowish and with an interesting grain pattern any suggestions? Thank you
By the way this is my first butcher block tabletop I’ve made butcher block cutting boards before and there usually between 2 and 1 inch thick will it be okay If I make it between 1/2 an inch and an inch in thickness
Thanks
Ebano is Spanish for Ebony
Can you stain dark woods so that they have a blue purple or indigo stains so that they have a hue of one of the aforementioned colours?
aka Mexican purpleheart
The guys at Woodcraft called it Mexican Ebony.
I have a document from the SEMARNAT (mexican office for environment and natural resources) Katalox is scarce and since 1997 is on the red list of endangered species of the IUCN (international Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources)
Hmm, do you happen to know what species they are referring to? I can’t seem to find any hint that Katalox is endangered according to the IUCN. I can see a handful of obscurer species (mostly from Ecuador) that are endangered, but they don’t appear to be commercial species, and the threat comes from general habitat destruction and not through direct exploitation of the trees.
Yes, it is clearly specified as: Swartzia cubensis.
And I haven’t looked at it directly in the IUCN. The document I refer to is from 2006. May the status has already changed??
Scott, I’ve never heard of the name Ebono, and a search came up empty. Ebono does sound similar to the english word “ebony,” and Katalox is sometimes referred to as “Mexican Ebony.” It is, however, not a true ebony, and is not in the Diospyros genus as other ebonies.
I did find a bunch of differing information for Limoncillo, all contradicting each other and using the common name for widely different species and genera of wood. Can’t be of too much help there!
I have been importing a wood the locals in Mexico call Ebono it look alot like the photo for Katalox. Do you know if this is a comon name for the wood? I am also looking to buy larger quanities of this wood but have been told it is hard to find in the state of Tamaulipus MX. Do you know where this wood grows in more abundance and is this in the Ebony family? I could submit photos if that would help. I also use a wood called Limoncillo, any information on this would also be appreciated. Thanks Scott… Read more »
According to a document from the SEMARNAT (mexican office for environment and natural resources) Katalox is scarce and since 1997 is on the red list of endangered species of the IUCN (international Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.
It’s ébano. It’s an African wood. Mexican ébano is actually katalox and it is not quite hard to find. You can find it in the Yucatan Peninsula and I believe Guatemala. Y have been working with katalox and it’s great.
I can vouch for this!