Nature's Palette: A Resource for Selecting Wood Species

Nature’s Palette:

A Resource for Selecting Wood Species

The forests provide a natural, wondrous and renewable palette of wood species in an amazing multitude of colors and grain patterns. There are literally thousands of species globally that spark the imagination of our readers. Each edition of International Wood provides insight into the wide range of projects that successfully incorporate imported species. On the list to the right, we have made every effort to identify the species referenced in this edition by its more common name and scientific names. Clearly communicate your needs with a U.S. importer, manufacturer or supplier who can best assist you in locating the most appropriate species for your project. You can find more detailed information on most of these species in the following pages and at the digital online edition.

www.iwpawood.org.

• African Etimoe (Copaifera spp.)
• African Pommelé and Figured Sapele (Entandrophragma cylindricum)
• Amboyna (Pterocarpus indicus)
• Anegre (Pouteria spp. formerly Aningeria genus)
• Antiaris (Antiaris spp.)
• Ayous (Triplochiton scleroxylon)
• Balau, Red (Shorea spp.)
• Beech, European (Fagus sylvatica)
• Birch, Baltic (Betula spp.)
• Birch, Karlian (Betula spp.)
• Bloodwood (Brosimum paraense)
• Bocote (Cordia spp.)
• Boxwood (Phyllostylon rhamnoides)
• Brazilian Rosewood (Dalbergia nigra)
• Bubinga (Guibourtia spp.)
• Caribbean Heart Pine (Pinus caribaea)
• Cedar, Spanish (Cedrela odorata)
• Chengal (Neobalanocarpus)
• Circassian Walnut (Juglans regia)
• Cocobolo (Dalbergia retusa)
• Cumaru (Dipteryx odorata)
• Doussie (Afzelia spp.)
• East Indian Rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia)
• Ebony (Diospyros spp.)
• Ekki (Lophira alata)
• Elm, Carpathian (Ulmus spp.)
• European White Oak (Quercus robur)
• Garapa (Apuleia leiocarpa)
• Greenheart (Chlorocardium rodiei)
• Guanacaste (Enterolobium cyclocarpum)
• Hura (Hura crepitans)
• Ipe (Tabebuia spp.)
• Iroko (Chlorophora excelsa)
• Jatoba, Brazilian Cherry (Hymenaea courbaril)
• Kempas (Koompassia malaccensis)
• Keruing (Dipterocarpus spp.)
• Khaya/African Mahogany (Khaya spp.)
• Koa (Acacia koa)
• Limba, White (Terminalia superba)
• Macassar Ebony (Diospyros spp.)
• Maccaranduba (Platymiscium spp.)
• Mahogany, Genuine (Swietenia macrophylla)
• Makore (Tieghemella heckelii)
• Mango (Mangifera indica)
• Massaranduba/Brazilian redwood (Manilkara spp.)
• Meranti/Lauan (Shorea spp.)
• Merbau (Intsia spp.)
• Morado (Machaerium scleroxylon)
• Obeche (Triplochiton scleroxylon)
• Okoume (Aucoumea klaineana)
• Padauk (Pterocarpus spp.)
• Paldao (Dracontomelon dao)
• Pau Ferro (Machaerium spp.)
• Purpleheart (Peltogyne spp.)
• Red grandis (eucalyptus grandis)
• Red Manioqueria (Qualea spp.)
• Rosewood (Dalbergia spp.)
• Rosewood, Honduran (Dalbergia stevensonii)
• Rosewood, Madagascar (Dalbergia baroni)
• Sandé (Brosimum utile)
• Santa Maria (Calophyllum brasiliense)
• Santos Rosewood/pau ferro (Machaerium spp.)
• Sapele (Entandrophragma spp.)
• Shedua (Guibourtia ehie)
• Shibidan (Aspidosperma album)
• Tatabu (Diplotropis purpurea)
• Teak (Tectona grandis)
• Tigerwood (Astronium graveolens)
• Tornillo (Cedrelinga catenaeformis)
• Wallaba (Eperua falcata)
• Wenge (Millettia laurentii)
• Yellowheart (Euxylophora paraensis)
• Zebrawood (Microberlinia brazzavillensis)
• Ziricote (Cordia dodecandra)

References:

– USDA Forest Products Lab: www.fpl.fs.fed.us/search/commonname_request.php

– The Wood Database: www.wood-database.com

What Does the Janka Ranking Scale Mean?

The janka rating scale measures the relative hardness of woods. Because hardness is often an important factor and hardness varies for each species, the janka scale is an excellent tool to compare wood species and identify appropriate choices.

2500 + • • • • •

**2000 • • • • **

**1500 • • • **

**1000 • • **

**0-500 • **

Amboyna

SPECIES: Pterocarpus indicus

OTHER NAMES: New Guinea Rosewood, Narra

ORIGIN: Southeast Asia

COMMON APPLICATIONS: Used for fine furniture, cabinetry, turned objects, aircraft details, knife/gun grips, and other small specialty wood items. Also known for use in instrument making, including electric guitar tops.

CHARACTERISTICS / APPEARANCE: Heartwood varies from light yellow, through golden brown to brick red in color. The grain is wavy, interlocked or crossed and these irregularities give rise to mottle, fiddle back, ripple and curly effect of figure. Pale yellow sapwood is clearly demarcated from the heartwood. Grain is typically interlocked with uneven to coarse texture. Easy to work with both hand and machine tools, with moderate blunting effect on cutters. Can be nailed, screwed, and turned satisfactorily. It glues and finishes well. Burls are rare and are prized for turnings.

JANKA HARDNESS SCALE: 1,260 lbf • •

COMMENTS: Very good weathering characteristics and is typically very durable regarding decay resistance.

Cumaru/Brazilian Teak/Tonka

SPECIES: Dipteryx odorata

ORIGIN: Central America and northern South America

CHARACTERISTICS / APPEARANCE: Sapwood is a yellowish-brown and is distinct from the heartwood, which is a reddish-brown to purple-hued brown. Exposure to light makes the overall color become more uniform. Typically interlocked grain with a medium coarse texture, Cumaru is exceptionally strong, very dimensionally stable, very dense, with a high shock resistance.

JANKA HARDNESS SCALE: 3,300 lbf • • • • •

COMMENTS: Cumaru has excellent durability and weathering properties.

Cumaru is able to stand up to almost anything the environment throws at it. Not only is it naturally resistant to mold, insects, and rot, Cumaru is one of the few hardwoods considered to be flame resistant due to its density. It not only lasts a long time, but has the beauty of an interior hardwood.

Garapa/Brazilian Ash

SPECIES: Apuleia leiocarpa

ORIGIN: South America

COMMON APPLICATIONS: Exterior joinery, flooring, stairs, decking, dock and boatbuilding.

CHARACTERISTICS/APPEARANCE: Garapa is a fine grained wood with a light yellow to warm golden brown hue and darkens with age. It has a fine straight-grained, interlocked medium texture. This wood is fairly easy to work, despite its density. It glues easily and is very stable once glued. Itsaw, nails, and screws well with little to no blunting effect on tools.

JANKA HARDNESS SCALE: 1,650 lbf • • •

COMMENTS: Garapa is naturally water-resistant, less vulnerable to insects, rot and decay. With an excellent durability and a high resistance to daily wear, it has a long lifespan of 25 years or more. Garapa also features a Class A fire rating.

Greenheart

SPECIES: Ocotea rodiaei

ORIGIN: Central America and Latin America

COMMON APPLICATIONS: Pool cues and other turnings, boat building, marine construction, as well as general construction (flooring, handrails, joinery, crane mats, railroad cross-ties).

CHARACTERISTICS / APPEARANCE: The heartwood is a pale olive green color with dark streaks reddish brown and darkens upon exposure. The sapwood is not distinctive from the heartwood. The grain is generally straight grained. This species is very high density, resulting in a very hard wood. It has a very high shock resistance, excellent crushing strength and a high density.

JANKA HARDNESS SCALE: 2,530 lbf • • • • •

COMMENTS: Besides being a pretty wood, Greenheart ranks second only to Teak in its natural resistance to marine borers and other insects attacks. It is a durable wood and suitable for exterior use, even untreated. It is highly resistant to decay, termites, fire and marine organisms. Greenheart is available in very large sizes and long lengths.

Ipe

SPECIES: Handroanthus spp. (formerly placed in the Tabebuia genus).

ORIGIN: Central and South America; also farmed commercially.

CHARACTERISTICS / APPEARANCE: Heartwood typically olive-brown, with variations in color from a reddish-brown to a dark blackish brown. Sapwood is yellowish-white and easily distinguished. Grain varies from straight to irregular and sometimes interlocked. Ipe is a difficult wood to work with high cutting resistance during sawing and machining. It planes smoothly with tearout in interlocked areas. Can be difficult to glue properly and surface preparation prior to gluing is recommended. All of the same qualities that make Ipe a challenging wood to work with make it so desired—it is extremely hard and dense with high durability and shock resistance.

JANKA HARDNESS SCALE: 3,510 lbf • • • • •

COMMENTS: Ipe is a wood of extremes —extremely dense and durable but as a result difficult to work. Its incredible hardness and strength make it well suited to exterior decking and siding. If left unfinished, graying of the wood will occur, but can last over 20 years outside without preservatives or additional treatments.

Jatoba/Brazilian Cherry

SPECIES: Hymenaea Courbaril

ORIGIN: Caribbean, Central and South America

CHARACTERISTICS / APPEARANCE: Sapwood can be wide and is either white or pink and sometimes gray. Heartwood varies from salmon red to orange brown which darkens to a red brown when exposed to sun. Medium to coarse texture with moderately interlocked grain. Jatoba glues, stains, turns, and finishes well.

JANKA HARDNESS SCALE: 2,690 lbf • • • • •

COMMENTS: Jatoba is prized for its pleasing color, beauty and durability. A high density wood that is one of the hardest wood species, durable even in exterior uses.

Wallaba

SPECIES: Eperua falcata

OTHER NAMES: Palo machete (Venzuela), Bijlhout (Suriname), Wapa (French Guinana), Apa, Apazeiro, Jebaro (Brazil)

ORIGIN: South America (Guyana, Venezuela, Brazil)

COMMON APPLICATIONS: Known for use as shingles and transmission poles for centuries. Also used in rail road ties, industrial flooring, decking, fence post, tank staves, and heavy construction.

CHARACTERISTICS / APPEARANCE: Heartwood is light red to reddishbrown in color and may have distinctive gummy streaks. The sapwood is pale and is sharply defined from the heartwood. The wood has a very high density and coarse texture, with a typically straight grain. Although the wood has high density, it is easy to work with both hand and machine tools, however, high gum exudate clogs saw teeth and cutters. Once kiln dried, gum exudates are not a serious problem in machining. It glues and polishes well. Predrilling is recommended.

JANKA HARDNESS SCALE: 2,040 lbf • • • •

COMMENTS: Wallaba consists of high gum exudates and oily resin which are part of the properties that fight against insects and decay. The wear resistance of Wallaba is extremely high.