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I never stain sapele. It will obliterate that beautiful ribbon grain. The original Philippine thwarts (seats) were 5/4 planed to 1 1/8 finished. the sapele I buy is 1 1/8, and I can plane it smooth at 1" or a fraction more. Sapele is quite a bit stronger than Philippine, as you run into cracked and broken seats on old boats. You will never see this with sapele, even at 1" finished. the downside is it is harder to plane and you need good sharp blades in your planer. it is also a bit heavier. Another good side is it is relatively inexpensive at under $5.00 a bd. ft.