The African hardwood in our thermowood range
Thermo Frake
Terminalia superba — thermally modified at 212°C
West African hardwood, locally known as Limba or Afara, run through the Finnish ThermoWood Class D cycle at our Gandhidham kiln. Diffuse-porous, lightweight for a hardwood, takes stain and oil like no softwood does.
Source regions
West African
forest belt
Botanical
Terminalia superba
Density
460–490 kg/m³
Durability
EN 350 Class 2
Service life
20+ yr Indian climate
Grain
Diffuse-porous
The African hardwood that takes a finish.
Terminalia superba — Limba in trade, Afara in Nigeria, Korina in classical lutherie — is a diffuse-porous hardwood from the West African forest belt. Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana are the primary FSC-certified source regions; Cameroon and Congo Basin round out supply. Boards arrive kiln-dried to 10–12% moisture at our Gandhidham facility.
Raw frake sits at EN 350 durability class 4–5 (slightly durable to non-durable) — better than Scots Pine but not usable outdoors untreated. The ThermoWood-D cycle at 212°C under steam pushes it to class 2 (durable), same endpoint as modified pine. Where frake stands out is its uniform grain texture — unlike oak or ash, there are no ring-porous vessel lines interrupting the surface. The finish reads smooth and continuous.
Grain structure
Diffuse-porous
Uniform texture with no visible ray fleck or coarse early-wood bands. Stain goes on evenly, no streaking.
Weight advantage
~470 kg/m³
Lighter than Thermo Oak (610 kg/m³) or Thermo Ash (580 kg/m³). Easier on the suspension for long-run ceiling installs.
Thermo Frake — raw vs modified.
Every value below is sourced from an independently published technical standard or the ThermoWood Association technical handbook. Nothing is estimated or marketing-derived.
Values double-verifiedPrimary sources: International ThermoWood® Association technical handbook (Finnish Thermowood Association); USDA Forest Products Laboratory, FPL-GTR-190 Chapter 19; The Wood Database (Terminalia superba); EN 350:2016; EN 335:2013; EN 13501-1:2018; EN 1534:2020 (Brinell hardness); CEN/TS 15679:2007; ISO 21887. FSC Chain of Custody SCS-COC-006930. Independent test reports available per project on request.
Five applications.
Full process explanation on the Thermowood range page. Install specifications issued per project — request technical PDF.
See the board before you specify it.
Order free samples, download the technical datasheet, or send us the BOQ. We come back with profile, lead time and pricing. Shipped pan-India from Kaithal.