African Padauk — Density, Movement, Workability & Cost

For years African padauk (Pterocarpus soyauxii) got recommended as the "unrestricted" exotic — vivid colour, real durability, and none of the CITES paperwork that slowed down rosewoods and true mahogany. That changed: every African Pterocarpus population, padauk included, now sits in Appendix II under annotation #17, the broad category that reaches past raw logs into sawn boards, veneer, plywood and even machined profiles like flooring and moulding. Only the separately-listed P. santalinus (red sandalwood, under annotation #7) was ever handled differently. This is current against the appendices in force from 5 March 2026, following CoP20 — a materially different sourcing picture than the "no restrictions" reputation this wood still carries in a lot of older shop references.

The colour that won't stay, and the dust that stains everything it touches

Fresh off the saw, padauk is an almost unreasonable orange-red — genuinely one of the most vivid colours in commercial lumber — and it oxidises to a muddy purple-brown within a year or two regardless of finish. At 46.5 lb/ft³ and 1,710 lbf it's dense and hard, harder than purpleheart's own genus-mate discussion might suggest despite the two woods sharing a similar colour-change reputation. What makes padauk distinct at the bench is how aggressively the dust stains: it will tint a glue line, a shop rag, or anything pale left sitting nearby, in a way most other coloured exotics don't approach.

Movement is genuinely good for the density

A tangential:radial ratio of 1.6 and a volumetric shrinkage of only 7.9% make padauk one of the more dimensionally stable dense hardwoods on this site's list — comparable to genuine mahogany's stability despite being nearly one and a half times as dense. An 8"-wide flatsawn accent panel moving from a 9% moisture content down to a dry 6% MC contracts only about 0.040" (1.0mm) across its width, computed from padauk's own 5% tangential shrinkage figure — a small number that partly explains why padauk holds up well as inlay and accent work inset into a more movement-prone primary wood without popping loose. Run other widths on the wood movement calculator. A 1/2"-thick, 8"-wide, 2-foot accent panel weighs about 2.6 lb — check other sizes on the wood weight calculator.

Working it, and the one gluing quirk unique to this species

It cuts and turns easily with a mild, slightly gritty feel under the tool, nothing like purpleheart's resin-gumming problem. The gluing quirk is specific to padauk's staining dust: wipe the mating surfaces before glue-up, because dust worked into a glue line will tint the glue itself orange and leave a visible line under a clear finish that no amount of sanding fully removes. UV-blocking finishes slow the shift toward brown noticeably but don't prevent it — the honest approach with a client is to set expectations up front that the vivid orange in the showroom is temporary, not a promise about the delivered piece a year later.

Cost, durability, and where the new CITES reality changes buying decisions

At around $16 per board foot, padauk costs slightly more than purpleheart and sits comfortably in the premium tier. It's rated very durable and is genuinely one of the better exotic choices for outdoor use if a client can accept the colour shift toward brown as the wood's real long-term appearance rather than a defect — that durability claim hasn't changed, only the ease of legally sourcing it has, now that permits are required at every stage from log to moulded profile.

Where it's used, and what to check before you order more

Furniture accents, turnery, musical instruments, flooring and inlay are the five uses padauk shows up in most, and the flooring and moulding uses specifically are the ones most affected by the annotation #17 listing, since those are "transformed wood" rather than raw lumber. Buyers used to treating padauk as a casual, paperwork-free exotic should check a supplier's CITES documentation before a large flooring or moulding order in a way that wasn't necessary a few years ago. Against purpleheart, the two woods make a natural side-by-side comparison — both are dense, both change colour dramatically under UV, and both work more easily than their hardness would suggest, but purpleheart's colour shift runs violet-to-brown while padauk's runs orange-to-brown, and padauk's dust-staining problem has no real equivalent on purpleheart.

Common questions about African padauk

Does the CITES listing mean I can no longer buy padauk at all? No — it means logs, sawn boards, veneer, plywood and machined profiles now require permits to move across borders; retail purchase within a country and from a supplier with proper documentation is unaffected, but the paperwork trail is new for a wood that didn't require it before.

Will a padauk accent inset into a walnut tabletop eventually clash once both woods finish changing colour? It's worth planning for — walnut fades toward tan under UV while padauk darkens toward brown, so the contrast between the two actually narrows over time rather than staying as dramatic as it looks on delivery day.

Is the staining dust a health hazard beyond just being messy? Beyond the staining nuisance, it's a recorded irritant with reports of skin and eye irritation and, in some workers, nausea, headaches and asthma-like symptoms — treat it with the same dust-collection discipline as any other exotic on this list, not just as a laundry problem.

Shrinkage and density figures come from The Wood Database, citing the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Wood Handbook; padauk does not appear in FPL's own Table 4-4, so this species relies entirely on the secondary source. CITES status confirmed against the appendices valid from 5 March 2026, post-CoP20 — verify directly before importing, since listings shift at each Conference of the Parties.