Wenge ( ) is a tropical timber, very dark in colour with a distinctive figure and pattern. The wood is heavy and hard, suitable for flooring and staircases. Several
musical instrument makers employ wenge in their products.
Mosrite used it for bodies of their Brass Rail models.
Ibanez and Cort use it for the five-piece necks of some of their electric basses.
Warwick electric basses used
FSC sourced wenge for fingerboards and necks as of 2013. It is also used by Yamaha as the centre ply of their Absolute Hybrid Maple drums. The wood is popular in
segmented woodturning because of its dimensional stability and colour contrast when mixed with lighter woods such as
maple. This makes it especially sought after in the manufacture of high-end wood
canes and chess boards. The wood is sometimes used in the making of
archery bows, particularly as a laminate in the production of
flatbows. It can also be used in the making of rails or pin blocks on
hammered dulcimers. The wood may also be used for
kendamas. Though a ken could be made entirely out of wenge, it's generally used to substitute a portion of the big/small cups while the rest of the ken is made out of a softer, less dense wood. This concentration of weight in the big and/or small cup facilitates balance tricks such as lunars. ==Health hazards==