People walk into the workshop and ask, almost without exception, the same first question. What wood is that? They are pointing at a sample we have left on the windowsill — a stained block, edge-jointed, that catches the late afternoon. We answer honestly, and then we usually keep them a while longer than they expected, talking about why we settled on it.
The Malaysian timber trade is a long, sometimes complicated business. Some of it is beautiful; some of it is no longer responsibly harvestable; some of it is overrated for the work we do. After eleven years on the bench, the four species below are the ones we still trust and still stock. There are others we keep for special commissions, but if you ask us to recommend something the day you walk in, the chances are it will be one of these four.
Kembang semangkok — our workhorse
If we had to keep only one Malaysian species, this would be it. Kembang semangkok grows widely across the peninsular, takes well to kiln-drying, and behaves quietly on the bench. The grain is even, the figure is calm, the colour is a warm medium — somewhere between American cherry and Australian jarrah, but without either of their stronger reds. We use it for sofa frames, chair shells, sideboard carcasses and the inner structure of upholstered work.
Stability is the real virtue. A board of properly dried kembang semangkok, racked for three weeks, will not move on you once it is jointed. We have credenzas in clients’ houses, ten and twelve years old, that have neither cracked nor cupped. That is the test that actually matters to us, and the wood passes it.
Kiln-dried seraya — the chameleon
Seraya is a family rather than a single species, but for our purposes we hold one consistent kiln-dried supply and grade it ourselves. The colour ranges from honey-pink to a deeper russet, and a coat of hardwax oil deepens it satisfyingly. It is light enough to make into Windsor-style chairs and strong enough to anchor a six-seat dining table.
Where we are careful: seraya can sometimes carry tension in the grain — you do not see it on the board, you feel it three weeks later when something has bowed in the rack. We sand a corner each day during the resting period; the bowed ones go back to the supplier. The rest become some of the most handsome chairs in the workshop.
The board you choose for the table is more important than the joint you cut into it. A wonderful joint in a moving board will fail. A simple joint in a quiet board will outlast its maker.
Reclaimed merbau — the slow heavyweight
Merbau is no longer something we take from the forest. The merbau on our rack is reclaimed — pulled from kampung houses being demolished, old verandah floors being replaced, second-life joists from shophouses in Ipoh and Klang. We work with two small dealers, both of whom we have known for a decade, and we never buy a board without seeing its source.
The wood is hard, dense, deeply coloured, and historically the prized timber for plantation furniture — for good reason. It is what we reach for when a tabletop has to stand up to thirty years of meals, or when a bench seat must take the weight of three teenagers. The downside is that it is unforgiving to plane — the blade has to be very sharp, and the cabinetmaker has to be patient. The reward is a surface that ages handsomely and refuses to look tired.
Chengal — the hidden hero
Chengal is the most famous Malaysian hardwood, and we have a complicated relationship with it. We will not build a tabletop in chengal, because the boards never finish moving — they continue to settle, very slowly, for years. What we do use chengal for, exclusively, is hidden structural work: stretchers under tables, drawer parts, ledger rails, internal frames. The strength-to-section ratio is superb, and the colour does not matter because the piece is buried inside the joinery.
We buy chengal in off-cuts — the trim from beam-stock that would otherwise be discarded by structural mills. It is the most ethically straightforward way to use this beautiful, finite wood, and it would otherwise be wasted.
What we are quietly cautious of
- Rubberwood. Cheap, soft, and unstable in long lengths. We do not use it. It is fine for shipping pallets and entirely the wrong choice for furniture.
- Plantation teak from new growth. The honey colour is lovely; the density is not what it was a generation ago. We will use it for a small piece, with full disclosure, but it is not a long-haul wood from new plantations.
- Generic “hardwood” from unmarked suppliers. If the species is not on the docket, we send the boards back. Anonymous wood is wood we cannot guarantee.
How to choose, in five sentences
If the piece is upholstered, you will rarely see the wood; kembang semangkok is the right answer. If the piece is a chair or a small case good, seraya works almost every time. If the piece is a generational tabletop or a bench seat that has to take serious weight for a long time, reclaimed merbau. If the piece is a side table, console, or coffee table where pale is the brief, ask us for American white oak instead — not on this list, but on the rack alongside it.
Most clients arrive thinking they need teak. Most clients leave with kembang semangkok. We are happy to send a small stained sample of each of the four woods above by post — just write to [email protected] with the species you would like to see.
