The Wooden Dimensions

Know your wood: Santos Mahogany

2012-03-05T22:31:00.000-06:00

Myroxylon balsamum from Koehler’s Medicinal Plants (1887)

Trade Name: Santos mahogany, Balsamo.

Genus: Myroxylon balsamum

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 2200

Description: A highly invasive species. The coloration can be all over the place with Santos mahogany. It ranges from a light tan with pinkish hues to a deep almost purple brown. I’ve never seen a species so specific to a task—if you’re reading this, you’re very likely looking for interior flooring. Santos mahogany is richly textured, with a straight to highly irregular grain pattern. The oils in balsam are used as a fragrance in perfumes, and predictably, the wood exudes a spicy scent when working. Santos mahogany is not a true mahogany (Swentia), and it isn’t of the family Maliaceae (African mahogany and Spanish Cedar belong to this family.) Santos mahogany is generally harder and much more difficult to work than the counterparts listed above.

Location: Central and South America, namely: Mexico, Nicaragua, Belize, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Columbia, Honduras, Peru, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil.

Common Aliases: Arbol de balsamo, Balsamito, Balsamo de San Salvador, Balsamo negro, Caboreiba vermelha, Cabreuva, Cabreuva vermelha, Cabriziva, Cedro chino, Chucte, Greybark pine, Incienso, Incienso Colorado, Pau de balsam, Pau vermelho, Quina, Quina morada, Sandalo, Tolu.

Performance: Quite hard, and moderately difficult to work. Will blunt tools noticeably when working. The composition of the wood (interlocking, wavy grain) makes working Santos mahogany a challenge. Maybe that’s why everyone uses it almost exclusively in flooring. Makes sense, I guess. Santos mahogany appears to be nearly exclusively used as an interior product, though the species rates well against moisture and insect.

Affordability: $$$ Generally affordable for higher-end flooring applications.

Common Uses: Flooring, countertops, furnishings, stair nosings, ship building, railroad ties, heavy construction.

From: The Wood Database:

Common Name(s): Santos Mahogany
Scientific Name: Myroxylon balsamum
Distribution: Southern Mexico and Central and South America
Tree Size: 65-100 ft (20-30 m) tall, 2-3 ft (.6-1.0 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 60 lbs/ft3 (960 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .77
Hardness: 2,200 lbf (9,790 N)
Rupture Strength: 22,770 lbf/in2 (157,000 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 2,430,000 lbf/in2 (16,760 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 12,250 lbf/in2 (84.5 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 3.8%, Tangential: 6.2%, Volumetric: 10.0%, T/R Ratio: 1.6

Know your wood: Afromosia

2012-03-05T11:28:00.000-06:00

Afromosia

A moderately colored swatch of Afromosia, as displayed in The Wood Explorer.

Trade Name: Afromosia.

Genus: Pericopsis angolensis

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 2524

Description: Afromosia is a medium sized tree with irregularly peeling bark. The writings here refer specifically to Pericopsis angolensis. Afrormosia is similarly named, but it is different species, found in a different part of Africa. Each is of the Genus Pericopsis, and is broadly marketed as African teak, though each of these species is of the family Leguminosae. This wood has appeal in European and the United Kingdom markets due to its relative ease of availability. Deeply colored and textured, with interlocked and distinct figuring.

Location: Central African Republic, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zaire, Zimbabwe.

Common Aliases: Afrormosia angolensis (see above), Ormosia angolensis, Chianga, East African afrormosia, Mbanga, Muwanga, Mwanga, Umbanga.

Performance: Cuts well, but does not plane quite so easily due to the wildly contrasting nature of the product. Afromosia has a distinct aroma to it. Afromosia has above average durability regarding moisture, and average repellence to insects. Afromosia cuts fairly well, but can be somewhat difficult to plane due to the interlocking nature of the grain. Afromosia is a very hard wood that will require pre-boring of fastening features. Afromosia is a stable, hard, high quality lumber.

Affordability: $$$$ Pretty expensive here in the US, though deals can be found in bulk.

Common Uses: Furnishings, flooring, boat building, joinery, plywood, railroad ties, tool handles, turnery, veneers, wheels, decks, carvings, crates, cabinetry.

From: The Wood Explorer:

Common Name(s): Afromosia
Scientific Name: Pericopsis angolensis
Distribution: Central Africa
Tree Size: 80-120 ft tall, 2-3.5 ft trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 43 lbs/ft3
Basic Specific Gravity: .705
Hardness: 2,524 lbf
Rupture Strength: 14879 lbf/in2
Elastic Strength: 1,923,000 lbf/in2
Crushing Strength: 10,755 lbf/in2
Shrinkage: Radial: 2%, Tangential: 4%, T/R Ratio: 2.0

Know Your Wood: Padauk

2012-03-05T00:20:00.000-06:00

Padauk

Nice looking guitar, and many other items found here.

Trade Name: Padauk.

Genus: Pterocarpus soyauxii

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 1970

Description: It’s an odd life when a person finds themselves twice within a year writing about a wood he’s never worked. A fascinating wood, this Padauk. For starters, it might show up an orange-red color, but it won’t stay that way. Padauk darkens considerably over time to a deeper red, and even purple hue. Padauk’s orange tone may be preserved, but special considerations must be taken into account. It is prized by guitarmakers for its deep and resonating tonal qualities.

Location: Central and West tropics of Africa, namely: Angola, Central African Republic, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Congo, Zaire

Common Aliases: Africaans padoek, African padauk, Afrikansches padoik, Akume, Arapka, Barwood, Bois corail, Bois rouge, Gula, M’bio, Red santal, Yomo, Wele, Tizeze, Epein, Barwood, and many other regional variances.

Performance: Overall, very easy to work. Resistant to insect and decay.

Affordability: $$$ Considering the distance the wood has to travel just to arrive in American markets, Padauk is fairly reasonable on the return.

Common Uses: Musical instruments, furnishings, flooring, bridges, cabinets, decks, heavy construction, ground contact, oars, paddles, plywood, veneers, wheels, railroad ties.

From: The Wood Database:

Common Name(s): Padauk, African Padauk
Scientific Name: Pterocarpus soyauxii
Distribution: Central and tropical west Africa
Tree Size:100-130 ft (30-40 m) tall, 2-4 ft (.6-1.2 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 46 lbs/ft3 (740 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .61
Hardness: 1,970 lbf (8,760 N)
Rupture Strength: 16,830 lbf/in2 (116,030 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 1,700,000 lbf/in2 (11,720 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 8,130 lbf/in2 (56.0 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 3.3%, Tangential: 5.2%, Volumetric: 7.6%, T/R Ratio: 1.6

Know your wood: Peruvian Walnut

2012-03-04T22:59:00.001-06:00

Peruvian Walnut

Hey, if you’re already putting the money into a 1938 Rolls-Royce, go right ahead and deck out the body in Nogal.

Trade Name: Nogal, Peruvian walnut, South American walnut, Andean walnut

Genus: Juglans neotropica

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 1080

Description: Peruvian walnut, or Nogal, is darker than its North American cousin Black walnut, and its sapwood doesn’t have the light cream coloring. Peruvian Walnut is a deep brown, with a sometimes purple hue to it. It’s relatively soft, and is an evergreen species. The texture is course, the pores are average, and the grain is straight to irregular. Nogal is the Spanish translation for walnut. Peruvian walnut may be marketed as many species of the Genus Juglans, but the specifications listed here apply to the species neotropica.

Location: Central and South America

Common Aliases: South American nogal, Nogal, South American walnut.

Performance: Generally easier to work than North American walnut. The wood can be found with lighter streaks in some of the stock, and is sometimes dyed. Grain is fairly regular, texture is coarse, and the pores are medium. Peruvian walnut fares above average against insect attack. Still, if forced to choose, I choose indoor application for this species.

Or a snack. Look tasty? You can buy the fruits from Juglans neotropica here.

Common Uses: Food, Musical instruments, carvings, decorative objects, flooring, furnishings, cabinetry, pens, plywood, veneers, turnings.

From: The Wood Database:

Common Name(s): Peruvian Walnut, Tropical Walnut, Nogal
Scientific Name: Juglans spp. (Juglans neotropica, J. olanchana, etc.)
Distribution: Southern Mexico, Central and South America
Tree Size: 30-60 ft (9-18 m) tall, 2-3 ft (.6-1.0 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 38 lbs/ft3 (610 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .50
Hardness: 1,080 lbf (4,800 N)
Rupture Strength: 10,020 lbf/in2 (69,080 kPa)*
*Estimated bending strength from data of 15% MC wood at: 9,100 lbf/in2 (62,760 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 1,055,000 lbf/in2 (7,280 MPa)*
*Estimated elasticity from data of 15% MC wood at: 1,020,000 lbf/in2 (7,030 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 5,920 lbf/in2 (40.8 MPa)*
*Estimated crushing strength from data of 15% MCwood at: 5,180 lbf/in2 (35.7 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 2.8%, Tangential: 5.5%, Volumetric: 8.3%, T/R Ratio: 2.0

Know your wood: Zebrawood

2012-03-04T21:32:00.000-06:00

Zebrawood

Now that’s a table! Zebrawood tends to be quite expensive, because quarter-sawn sections are required to achieve its distinctive look.

Trade Name: Zebrawood, Zebrano.

Genus: Microberlinia brazzavillensis

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 2097

Description: Highly contrasting growth rings, resulting in the name from its quarter-sawn sections. Wildly chaotic sections may also be found from flat-sawn sections of Zebrano. The texture is fairly coarse, and its grain is usually wavy in nature.

Location: West Africa, namely: Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea. Zebrawood’s availability is further limited by the accessibility of the stock. Zebrano is found in remote locales, and is a slow growing species, with lots of cull from the milled to finished product.

Common Aliases: African zebrawood, Amouk, Enuk-enug, Zebrano, Izingana.

Performance: Cuts well, but does not plane quite so easily due to the wildly contrasting nature of the product. Stinks, but it only stinks like Zebrano. Zebrawood glues and finishes well, so presumably, once the product is well sealed, the odor encountered during the woodworking can be remedied. This isn’t a wood I would much want to put outside (personal preference…I wouldn’t want to smell rotting Zebrano), but it is a durable wood suitable for outdoor use. Insects don’t like the smell, or the taste of it.

If you’re already having trouble seeing, AND you read Japanese, AND you need something to rapidly accelerate your vision loss, these should turn the trick.

Common Uses: Eyeglasses, decorative objects, flooring, furnishings, cabinetry, pens, plywood, veneers, turnings, and anything else that as a piece of furnishing needs to scream just a little bit.

From: The Wood Database:

Common Name(s): Zebrawood, Zebrano
Scientific Name: Microberlinia brazzavillensis
Distribution: West Africa
Tree Size: 150 ft (46 m) tall, 4-5 ft (1.2-1.5 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 54 lbs/ft3 (860 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .64
Hardness: 2,097 lbf (9.330 N)
Rupture Strength: 20,000 lbf/in2 (137,900 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 2,340,000 lbf/in2 (16,100 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 9,600 lbf/in2 (66.2 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 6.8%, Tangential: 11.5%, Volumetric: 16.5%, T/R Ratio: 1.7

Know your wood: European Beech

2012-03-04T20:37:00.000-06:00

European Beech

European Beech, presented by The Wood Database.

Trade Name: Beech, European beech.

Genus: Fagus sylvatica

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 1450

Donar Reiskoffer took this picture. Upon close inspection, two people in somewhat close proximity to Mr. Reiskoffer can be seen in the dense undergrowth.

Description: Very pale tan to warmer browns. The European beech is a large deciduous forest tree. Veneers are darker colored, as a result of the steaming process required for this cut. Flatsawn surfaces are quite bland, while the quarter-sawn millruns are generally speckled, or flecked. European beech is the most popular hardwood in the United Kingdom.

Location: Central Europe, specifically: Norway, Denmark, Germany, France, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Italy, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Romania.

Common Aliases: Common beech, English beech, French beech, Varlig bok, Rod bok, Yugoslavian beech, European steamed beech.

Performance: Very hard, but can be dimensionally unstable. Beechwood is a utility wood, and has widespread application as a fuel wood. Finishing qualities are good. Beech is easy to work (with the exception of veneer sampling), planes and nails all right, and is suitable for joinery. Beech is an above average utility hardwood.

Common Uses: Lumber, flooring, furnishing, cabinetry, piano pinblocks, plywood, veneers, turnings.

From: The Wood Database:

Common Name(s): European Beech
Scientific Name: Fagus sylvatica
Distribution: Europe
Tree Size: 100-130 ft (30-40 m) tall, 3-5 ft (1-1.5 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 45 lbs/ft3 (720 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .53
Hardness: 1,450 lbf (6,460 N)
Rupture Strength: 15,970 lbf/in2 (110,140 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 2,075,000 lbf/in2 (14,310 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 8,270 lbf/in2 (57.0 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 5.7%, Tangential: 11.6%, Volumetric: 17.3%, T/R Ratio: 2.0

Know Your Wood: Yellow Birch

2012-02-22T20:48:00.000-06:00

Yellow Birch

Yellow Birch , presented by The Wood Explorer.

Trade Name: Yellow birch, birch. (The majority of hardwood marketed as “birch” in the United States is the species defined herein.)

Genus : Betula alleghaniensis

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 1260

A Yellow birch in action, sharing the smooth bark with its ornamental paper birch cousin found commonly in landscape applications.

Description: Heartwood is very pale, with close to white sapwood. Figuring is common, at least from the commercially available birch that has been available to me. The grain is straight, and the pores are tight. A very hardy tree.

Location: Eastern North America. The range of the Yellow birch is roughly the same as many of the other great North American hardwoods. Ranges from Ontario and Nova Scotia to the north, and reaches to the highest elevations of the Appalachians in northern Georgia to the south.

Yeah, I built that thing. A dozen years ago. I'm no happier with its appearance than you, but it is birch. In my defense, this project was heavily subsidized by Natural Light.

Common Aliases: American birch, Betula wood, Birch. Other variations of the Genus Betula marketable as birch include: Alaska Paper Birch, Alder-leaf birch, Downy birch, Gray birch, Paper birch, River birch, Silver birch, Sweet birch, Masur birch.

Performance: Very easy to work and highly versatile. Don’t use it outside, please. You’ll be disappointed with that stunt. Yellow birch saws easily, sands and accepts finishes quite well. Birch will burn, and the burn will show if using less-than-sharp cutting heads. A great performance species for the relatively low cost. Paints well too, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Common Uses: Furnishings, veneers, plywood, doors, utility grade furnishings, millworks, dowel pins, cabinetmaking, flooring, fuelwood, toothpicks, pianos, crates.

From: The Wood Database:

Common Name(s): Yellow Birch
Scientific Name: Betula alleghaniensis
Distribution: Northeastern North America
Tree Size: 65-100 ft (20-30 m) tall, 2-3 ft (.6-1.0 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 46 lbs/ft3 (740 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .55
Hardness: 1,260 lbf (5,610 N)
Rupture Strength: 16,600 lbf/in2 (114,480 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 2,010,000 lbf/in2 (13,860 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 8,170 lbf/in2 (56.3 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 7.3%, Tangential: 9.5%, Volumetric: 16.8%, T/R Ratio: 1.3

Know Your Wood: White Ash

2012-02-22T19:52:00.000-06:00

White Ash

He may have won the Gold Glove in left field last year, but as is so often the case, the voters were winking at Mr. Gordon's work with that stick of Ash as much as the leather.

Trade Name: White Ash.

Genus: Fraxinus americana

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 1320

Description: Light brown with highly pronounced cathedral grain pattern. Similar to the oaks at first appearance, but ash is a denser and more stable species. The White ash is coarse, like oak, and the grain is usually straight and regular. Not for exterior use.

Both water and insect can kick some serious Ash. Interior use only, please.

Location: Typically, Eastern North America. Ranges from Nova Scotia to Minnesota across the north, south to northern Florida and west to eastern Texas. Found all over the great North American temperate forests.

Common Aliases: American ash, Ash, Biltmore white ash. The term “ash” may also refer to several other specialized species of the Genus Fraxinus, namely: Black ash, Blue ash, European ash, Green ash, Oregon ash, Pumpkin ash, and olive ash. Olive ash may also refer, confusingly, to darker varieties of White ash similar in appearance to the Olive.

Performance: Relatively easy to work, given its strength properties. White Ash is a flexible wood that finishes quite well naturally, and can be stained. Saws well, glues easily, sands fairly easily. A very solid all-around performer.

I never would have guessed such a thing, but it certainly appears one can craft a lobster trap from Ash...

Common Uses: Baseball bats, crates, pallets, millwork, tool handles, other turnings, furnishings, flooring, hockey sticks, audio equipment, and other projects requiring a strong, sharp looking American hardwood.

From: The Wood Database:

Common Name(s): White Ash, American White Ash
Scientific Name: Fraxinus americana
Distribution: Eastern North America
Tree Size: 65-100 ft (20-30 m) tall, 2-5 ft (.6-1.5 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 44 lbs/ft3 (710 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .55
Hardness: 1,320 lbf (5,870 N)
Rupture Strength: 15,000 lbf/in2 (103,450 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 1,740,000 lbf/in2 (12,000 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 7,410 lbf/in2 (51.1 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 4.9%, Tangential: 7.8%, Volumetric: 13.3%, T/R Ratio: 1.6

Know your wood: Red Alder

2012-02-19T10:26:00.000-06:00

Red Alder

A fellow by the name of Larry Workman took this picture. His other fascinating works of the northeast can be found here.

Common trade names: Red alder

Genus: Alnus rubra

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 590

Description: Red Alder is tan to brown in color, complemented by reddish hues. Red alder tends to continue to darken over time. Looks quite a bit like birch, and there’s a reason: They are both trees of the family Betulaceae. Red alder has tight pores and a generally straight and even grain stock.

Allergic to Red alder? I'd move away from Oregon, if I were you.

Location: Coastal western North America, namely: Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California.

The range of Red alder in British Columbia, courtesy of the Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resources Operations located therein.

Common Aliases: Alder, Oregon alder, Pacific alder, Western alder

Performance: Red alder is susceptible to moisture penetration, specifically through the endgrains. For this reason, I recommend Red alder only for indoor use. In proper applications, Alder is a good, sustainable performance wood for cabinetry and woodworking. It is a little softer than some of the other American hardwoods, and for this reason is a good wood to work in some specialty interior applications.

Red alder is easily worked by machine or hand, and glues and finishes well. Red alder is also a fine turning stock.

Common Uses: Interior furnishings, fine woodworks, turnings, carvings, cabinetry, audio equipment, and any number of applications for a very easily worked (and among the softest) of the hardwoods.

From: The Wood Database

Common Name(s): Red Alder, Western Red Alder
Scientific Name: Alnus rubra
Distribution: Coastal western North America
Tree Size: 100-130 ft (30-40 m) tall, 2-3 ft (.6-1.0 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 30 lbs/ft3 (475 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .37
Hardness: 590 lbf (2,620 N)
Rupture Strength: 9,800 lbf/in2 (67,590 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 1,380,000 lbf/in2 (9,520 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 5,820 lbf/in2 (40.1 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 4.4%, Tangential: 7.3%, Volumetric: 12.6%, T/R Ratio: 1.7

Know Your Wood: Utile

2012-02-19T09:16:00.000-06:00

Know your wood: Utile

The picture at left shows just a swatch of straight-grained Utile, or Sipo lumber, via The Wood Database.

Common trade names: Utile, Sipo, Sipo Mahogany,

Genus: Entandrophragma utile

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 1260

Description: Similar in look and performance to mahogany, (and even trade named a mahogany—this is not a mahogany, but is a more than adequate substitute.) Sipo is colored reddish brown typically, and is commercially available worldwide. Many of the other names of this species are listed below, but Utile and Sipo are the ones predominantly used in the trade. Sipo’s grain ranges from straight to interlocking, depending upon the cut and growth of the tree. Sipo is commercially harvested and is not currently monitored as a vulnerable species.

Location: West Central and Central Africa, namely: Angola, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Zaire.

Common Aliases: Sapele mahogany, Timbi, Mufumbi mahogany, Libuyu, Feather sapele, Efuchyewee, Budongo heavy mahogany, Akuk, Assi, Abebay

Performance: Utile is quite similar in performance to genuine mahogany, and it is a very close and acceptable substitute. It’s a durable, dense, and hard wood, and it has a high resistance to insect and detrimental effects of moisture. Sipo is a very high quality and relatively easy to work wood, given its overall performance and quality. Gluing might present some issues, and the wood can char if sharp tools are not maintained.

All you government haters out there feel free to stay away from the USDA link here, despite its taxpayer-funded value.

Common Uses: Cabinetry, decks, docks, shipbuilding, crates, interior furnishings, audio equipment, outdoor furniture, veneers, ground contact, paneling, turnings, and virtually any other project in need of a versatile and high-performing all-purpose lumber.

From: The Wood Database

Common Name(s): Utile, Sipo, Sipo Mahogany
Scientific Name: Entandrophragma utile
Distribution: West and Central Africa
Tree Size: 150-200 ft (45-60 m) tall, 3-5 ft (1-1.5 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 41 lbs/ft3 (655 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .52
Hardness: 1,260 lbf (5,610 N)
Rupture Strength: 14,350 lbf/in2 (98,970 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 1,585,000 lbf/in2 (10,930 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 8,330 lbf/in2 (57.4 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 4.6%, Tangential: 6.4%, Volumetric: 11.0%, T/R Ratio: 1.4

Know Your Wood: Poplar

2012-02-09T00:29:00.000-06:00

Poplar

The picture at left shows just some of the wide ranges of color found in Poplar lumber, via The Wood Explorer database.

Common trade names: Poplar, Yellow poplar.

Genus: Liriodendron tulipifera

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 540

Description: Poplar is a deciduous with lumber that is pale, with grey and green coloring streaked in. It’s very soft for a so-called hardwood, and its grain is generally straight and consistent, with a medium texture. Pores are sealed, making this a great selection for paint, and to a degree, stain. Personal preferences here, I suppose, but the greys and greens have always made me lean toward using Poplar as a paint-grade performance species only. But it will certainly take stain.

Location: Eastern United States. Range in picture of Liriodendron tulipifera via Wikipedia via USGS.

Common Aliases: Yellow poplar, American tulipwood, Blue poplar, Canadian whitewood, Saddletree, Tulip poplar, Virginian poplar, White poplar, Yellow-wood.

Performance: Poplar is very easy to work, and it takes paint exceptionally well. It also stains nicely, if that’s the look you’re going for. For whatever reason, I have memories of Poplar being much more widely available in local marketplaces better than a decade ago. Everytime I worked the wood, I was highly satisfied, because it was a piece of cake. The wood held together nicely, and I was able to crank out volume in a big hurry with this species. If I were to use paint grade trim anywhere in my place, it would be out of poplar. If I can get it in Ottawa or Pomona.

Common Uses: Millwork, paint-grade trim, stain-grade trim, shelving, cabinetry, just about anything for interior use that is to be painted, I would highly recommend poplar. I could name thousands of common uses for this species. A great wood, in my opinion, and very underrated.

From: The Wood Database

Common Name(s): Poplar, Tulip Poplar, Yellow Poplar
Scientific Name: Liriodendron tulipifera
Distribution: Eastern United States
Tree Size: 130-160 ft (40-50 m) tall, 6-8 ft (1.8-2.5 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 32 lbs/ft3 (515 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .40
Hardness: 540 lbf (2,400 N)
Rupture Strength: 10,100 lbf/in2 (69,660 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 1,580,000 lbf/in2 (10,900 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 5,540 lbf/in2 (38.2 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 4.6%, Tangential: 8.2%, Volumetric: 12.7%, T/R Ratio: 1.8

Know Your Wood: Red Maple

2012-02-08T22:35:00.001-06:00

Red Maple

A highly figured and deeply dimensioned burl. Soft maples aren’t what I would call “soft.” The name is simply an identification of a somewhat different acer, image via The Wood Explorer.

Common trade names: Red Maple, Soft maple, Carolina red maple, Scarlet maple, Swamp maple, Water maple, White maple.

Genus: Acer rubrum

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 950

Description: Red maple is one of the many acers referred to as soft maples. Like the Hard maples, the sapwood is preferred stock from these species. Color is typically pale with very light browns, with a heartwood a dark scarlet brown. Grain can be quite irregular and interesting among the soft maples.

Location: A deep forest wood. More a southern species in North America, though the northern bound on a reference shows the eastern end of Newfoundland as a locale. This amazes me, as the species’ range approaches the Everglades in Florida. Found everywhere but very deep swamp across the southern United States into east Texas and Ozark River lower basin in Missouri. Curiously, this wood is also found in pockets of northern! Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin. This must be a deep forest species, because it is barely found in Iowa, northeast Missouri, Kansas, and northern Illinois. Grows around most of Lake Superior and across the forestlands of southern Ontario and Quebec.

Common Aliases: Soft maple, (A great link descriptive of with reference to various species located here.) Carolina red maple, Drummond red maple, Scarlet maple, Swamp maple, Water maple, White maple.

Performance: Can decay. Interior use only! Many better woods are available for outdoor applications, and Red maple is otherwise a rather pleasant experience to work. As with the hard maple, Red maple can burn with high speed cutters that are just a little dull. Relatively affordable, except with figured pieces and such as seen in the photo at the head.

UNC may have lost the game to Duke tonight, but their Herbarium might be winning the Botanical war.

Common Uses: Crates, boxes, casks, fine furnishing, small specialty objects, turnings, plywood, hatracks, cabinetry, paneling, veneers.

From: The Wood Database

Common Name(s): Red Maple
Scientific Name: Acer rubrum
Distribution: Eastern North America
Tree Size: 65-100 ft (20-30 m) tall, 2-3 ft (.6-1.0 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 38lbs/ft3 (610 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .49
Hardness: 950 lbf (4,230 N)
Rupture Strength: 13,400 lbf/in2 (92,410 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 1,640,000 lbf/in2 (11,310 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 6,540 lbf/in2 (45.1 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 4.0%, Tangential: 8.2%, Volumetric: 12.6%, T/R Ratio: 2.1

Know Your Wood: Hard Maple

2012-02-08T12:03:00.000-06:00

Hard Maple

Birds-eye maple, one of the several varieties of hard maple featured in The Wood Explorer.

Common trade names: Hard Maple. Other varieties marketed as hard maple include Sugar maple and Black maple, but are slightly different species. The specifications listed here apply to the Acer saccharum, but the species above yield similar, but certainly not identical results.

Genus: Acer saccharum

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 1450

Description: Hard maple, as noted above, may be marketed under this name with a wide variety of species in the Acer genus. The Acer saccharum is a large North American deciduous whose sapwood is preferred to the heartwood. This is relatively unique among hardwoods. This prized sapwood is quite pale, and almost white when sanded. Hard maple has very small pores that require no filler.

Arguably the best reason for fall to arrive, maple foliage covers nearly the entire spectrum.

Location: Southeast Canada and northeastern United States, bounded roughly by the Mississippi River on the West and Ohio River basin on the south. (Acer saccharum is also found all throughout Missouri and eastern Kansas) One would be somewhat less likely to run into this species south of Washington D.C. It’s much more suited to seasonal change than some of the other great American hardwoods.

Common Aliases: Bird’s eye maple, black maple, Canadian maple, Curly maple, Fiddleback maple, Rock maple, Sugar maple, White maple.

Performance: Glues and finishes well, and is relatively easy to work with hand and machine tools, given its density. This wood will burn if tools are not adequately sharpened, and the wood will blacken. Try again with sharper tools! That being said, Hard maple turns and finishes nicely. Some would recommend the preconditioning products prior to staining Hard Maple. Best to set aside a sample, and test some things out a little bit so that an accurate assessment can be made regarding your particular stand of maple. If using the sapwood, remember that insects will be an issue. Hard Maple is best suited to interior applications.

In biblical times (1974), Earl Anthony made as much money off maple as nearly everyone in the lumber business.

Common Uses: Bowling pins, bowling alley lanes, fine furnishings, flooring, millwork, moldings, musical instruments, audio equipment, turnings, veneers, tool handles, chairs, and many other uses requiring a strong and versatile wood.

From: The Wood Database

Common Name(s): Hard Maple, Sugar Maple, Rock Maple
Scientific Name: Acer saccharum
Distribution: Northeastern United States
Tree Size: 80-115 ft (25-35 m) tall, 2-3 ft (.6-1.0 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 44 lbs/ft3 (705 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .56
Hardness: 1,450 lbf (6,450 N)
Rupture Strength: 15,800 lbf/in2 (108,970 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 1,830,000 lbf/in2 (12,620 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 7,830 lbf/in2 (54.0 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 4.8%, Tangential: 9.9%, Volumetric: 14.7%, T/R Ratio: 2.1

Know Your Wood: Red Oak

2012-02-07T20:20:00.001-06:00

Red Oak

Be sure to ask me sometime about my comfortable loveseat. It's a two millennium project.

Trade Name: Red Oak

Genus: Quercus rubra

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 1290

Description: The northern red oak can reach as much as 140’ in height with a better than three foot trunk diameter. Generally fast growing, and long lasting, sometimes living over 300 years. The wood is a pale red-brown, with sapwood coloration somewhat darker.

Location: Typically, northeastern United States and southeast Canada. Ranges from Nova Scotia to Georgia, along the Great Lakes region ranging through the Mississippi Valley, the lower Missouri Valley, and throughout the Ozarks. Farmed anywhere people want it, in climactic conditions consistent with the area noted above.

Common Aliases: Northern red oak, American red oak, Gray oak, Black Oak

No, that's not a photoshop trick. Separate piece. I'll spare everyone the agony of looking at the sofa, even closer to completion.

Performance: I’ve heard if you blow smoke through one end of a flat-sawn board, it will exit the other end. I’ve seen something similar happen when burning scrap of the stuff, so I’ll regard that as likely true. In any event, for this reason (moisture absorbing up the end grains), do not use red oak outside. You’ll eventually be disappointed. For interior applications, it is a fantastic, strong, and highly durable wood seen somewhere in most American homes. It will splinter if tools are not kept sharp. Affordable and versatile, Red Oak is an American woodworking favorite. It is by far the most widely available marketable hardwood in the United States. Many of these widely available products are closely related to the species reviewed here, and the specifications for other closely related products are widely available.

The likelihood I'll be sanding this red oak floor in four weeks is almost exactly identical to the likelihood my brother's offer on this house is accepted by the bank.

Common Uses: Indoor furnishings, cabinetry, tables, chairs, craftsman designs, flooring, moldings, millwork, veneer, and a variety of other uses.

From: The Wood Database

Common Name(s): Red Oak
Scientific Name: Quercus rubra
Distribution: Northeastern United States and Southeastern Canada
Tree Size: 80-115 ft (25-35 m) tall, 3-6 ft (1-2 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 45 lbs/ft3 (725 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .56
Hardness: 1,290 lbf (5,700 N)
Rupture Strength: 14,300 lbf/in2 (98,600 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 1,820,000 lbf/in2 (12,500 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 6,760 lbf/in2 (46.6 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 4.0%, Tangential: 8.6%, Volumetric: 13.7%, T/R Ratio: 2.2

Know Your Wood: White Oak

2012-02-07T17:32:00.001-06:00

White Oak

An example of the medullary rays of a quartersawn piece of White Oak, presented by The Wood Explorer.

Trade Name: White Oak.

Genus: Quercus alba

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 1360

Description: Light to medium brown, sometimes sprinkled with pinkish hues. Red Oak is usually a darker red, but color is no way to differentiate the species. The primary difference is on the cellular level. White Oak is a superior exterior performer than Red Oak due to the tyloses providing a closed cellular structure, making it more rot- and water-resistant. White Oak was the preferred species for many of Gustav Stickley’s Arts and Crafts designs at the turn of the previous century.

Location: Typically, Eastern United States.

Common Aliases: Cucharillo, Encino, Mamecillo, Roble, Roble Colorado, Stave oak

Performance: White Oak is solid, durable, relatively easy to work, well pored, and coarsely grained. White Oak finishes very well. It is affordable, abundant, and can offer a wide array of appearances, depending on what the designer has in mind, and depending on the particular cut of the lumber. Insects such as ambrosia and Butrespid beetles will get right after this species, sadly.

General Washington would have been proud of Connecticut's efforts once his views of the Monarchy had galvanized. Check your state quarter sometime!

Common Uses: Staves, barrel making, boat building, outdoor furnishings, cabinetry, tables, chairs, craftsman designs, flooring, moldings, millwork, veneer, and a variety of other uses.

From: The Wood Database

Common Name(s): White Oak
Scientific Name: Quercus alba
Distribution: Eastern United States
Tree Size: 65-85 ft (20-25 m) tall, 3-4 ft (1-1.2 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 50 lbs/ft3 (805 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .60
Hardness: 1,360 lbf (6,000 N)
Rupture Strength: 15,200 lbf/in2 (104,800 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 1,780,000 lbf/in2 (12,300 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 7,440 lbf/in2 (51.3 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 5.6%, Tangential: 10.5%, Volumetric: 16.3%, T/R Ratio: 1.9

Know Your Wood: Black Walnut

2012-02-07T14:44:00.000-06:00

Black Walnut

The heartwood and sapwood found in Black Walnut is unambiguous. Broadbent Canadian Furniture produced this distinctive work.

Common trade names: Black Walnut, Walnut, Eastern Black Walnut

Genus: Juglans nigra

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 1010

Description: Walnut ranges from a pale brown to deep sienna hues. The sapwood is quite pale, and nearly white. A very distinctive and easily identifiable wood. Medium texture and pores, usually straight grained, and has some of the wildest burl figures among all species of wood. Considered by many the standard of all the American hardwoods.

Location: Eastern North America from Southern Ontario through South Dakota across the northern bound, south through Eastern Texas on the western range of distribution, and covering northern Florida on the southern range. This large deciduous thrives mostly in riparian zones of the United States and Canada, but has been farmed in Europe since 1629. Domestically, over 60% of the US wild harvest is sawn annually in Missouri. Those Ozarks are good for something besides Yakov Smirnov!

Common Aliases: American black walnut, American walnut, Eastern walnut, gun wood, nogal, Nuez meca.

Performance: Glues and finishes well, and is very easy to work with hand and machine tools. The American woodworker familiar only with domestics would consider this stock to be quite hard, and it is indeed hard enough for most every application. Black Walnut, though relatively expensive for a domestic, is still prized by craftsmen for the distinct coloring and figure of the species. Walnut is very resistant to rot and weathering decay, although insects occasionally like the taste of it.

Love ‘em, hate ‘em, or leave ‘em, Aggie claims to know something about putting down roots. I guess. I didn’t read the article to determine how to dig the thing up and start over.

Common Uses: Fine furnishings, cabinetry, millwork, tables, chairs, veneers, handles, paneling, plywood, scientific and musical instruments, sculpture, toys, turnings, gun stock, audio cabinets, coffins, fuelwood.

From: The Wood Database

Common Name(s): Black Walnut
Scientific Name: Juglans nigra
Distribution: Eastern United States
Tree Size: 120 ft (37 m) tall, 3 ft (1 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 41 lbs/ft3 (655 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .51
Hardness: 1,010 lbf (4,490 N)
Rupture Strength: 14,600 lbf/in2 (100,700 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 1,680,000 lbf/in2 (11,590 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 7,580 lbf/in2 (52.3 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 5.5%, Tangential: 7.8%, Volumetric: 12.8%, T/R Ratio: 1.4

Know Your Wood: Black Cherry

2012-02-07T12:31:00.000-06:00

Black Cherry

Augustine delivers a valuable lesson, perhaps more in myth than reality.

Common trade names: Black Cherry, Cherry, North American Cherry, Appalachian Cherry

Genus: Prunus serotina

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 950

Description: Cherry is a very popular American hardwood, and one of my personal favorites. It sands to a very pale pink-brown hue, and finishes with a deeper blood-red and can darken more with the passage of time. Cherry is finely textured with typically tight grain patterns. Wood is generally very easy to work. Where there are irregularities in the grain pattern, as with many other woods, the specimen becomes relatively more difficult to work. Never in my life have I had issues with Cherry that merited any complaint.

Location: Eastern North America from Nova Scotia through Minnesota across the northern bound, south through Eastern Texas on the western range of distribution. It is also found in pockets throughout the southwestern U.S., Mexico, and Central America.

Common Aliases: American black cherry, cabinet cherry, Capollin, Capulin cherry, Chisos wild cherry, choke cherry, Detze, Mountain black cherry, Rum cherry, wild black cherry, wild cherry, Xeugua

A nice picture featuring the figure of Black Cherry, from The Wood Explorer.

Performance: Glues and finishes well, and is very easy to work with hand and machine tools. Cherry has a reputation of being one of the best woods widely available at affordable pricing. I’ve personally always seen great results from Black Cherry. Sands, and finishes quite well. I don’t know why anyone would ever want to stain Cherry, but this is one of the very few areas of difficulty the woodworker will experience with this species, as the stain can distribute unevenly due to pore tightness of the species. Weathers very well. Cherry has well above average resistance to insects. It’s cheap, it’s abundant, and it looks great. Black Cherry has occasional chatoyancy of surface, and is a truly remarkable wood in several facets of service.

Cherry blossoms are typically associated with trees of the genus Prunus, and in particular, Prunus serrulata. The trees seen in this shot of the tidal basin are descendant of a goodwill gift from Tokyo to the City of Washington in 1912. It is unclear if the Japanese government was unhappy with the presentation of these trees, or if a combination of various other circumstances led to an unfortunate series of events initiated in 1941 by Japan.

Common Uses: Fine furnishings, cabinetry, millwork, tables, chairs, veneers, handles, paneling, plywood, scientific and musical instruments, sculpture, toys, turnings, and many others requiring a beautiful solid domestic.

From: The Wood Database

Common Name(s): Black Cherry, Cherry, American Cherry
Scientific Name: Prunus serotina
Distribution: Eastern North America
Tree Size: 50-100 ft (15-30 m) tall, 3-5 ft (1-1.5 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 37 lbs/ft3 (595 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .47
Hardness: 950 lbf (4,230 N)
Rupture Strength: 12,300 lbf/in2 (84,800 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 1,490,000 lbf/in2 (10,300 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 7,110 lbf/in2 (49.0 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 3.7%, Tangential: 7.1%, Volumetric: 11.5%, T/R Ratio: 1.9

Know Your Wood: Spanish Cedar

2012-02-06T23:15:00.001-06:00

Spanish Cedar

Luthier Peter Tsiorba is all about classical and Flamenco guitars, like this sharp item.

Common trade names: Spanish Cedar, Cedro, Central American cedar

Genus: Cedrela odorata

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 600

Description: Spanish Cedar grows quite slowly. This fact, combined with relatively high worldwide demand, makes this species on the verge of being threatened. It is currently being managed and farmed by the world timber industries, but this will take some time. Mature and unfarmed trees tend to have better working qualities than plantation-grown counterparts, but this is currently under widespread study. Spanish Cedar features a warm and rich red-bronze glow when finished, and the grain is generally straight, though may have some interlocking natures. Cedro has medium texture and poring. This wood stinks unlike another. Once you’ve worked it, you’ll know when you’re around it again. Technically, it's closer to a mahogany than to a cedar. But we'll call it a cedar by convention.

Location: Central and South America, the Caribbean. Plantationed quite slowly in parts such as: Belize, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Hispaniola, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Panama, South Africa, Tanzania, Venezuela

Common Aliases: Akuyari, Atoreb, British Honduras cedar, cedro, cedro chino, Cedro macho, Cedro olorose, Cedro rojo, Central American Cedar, Guyana cedar, Mexican Cedar, West Indian cedar, Tabasco cedar, Tiocuahuitl.

Performance: Glues and finishes well, and is very easy to work with hand and machine tools. The grain can tear easily once blades are slightly compromised, leaving a clouded surface. Sands, stains, and finishes quite well. Natural resins found in Spanish cedar make finishing the wood somewhat more challenging than many. Weathers well. Above average resistance to insects, specifically termites.

The author apologizes for the quality of this picture. Ten years ago, I worked a project building several arched doorways and doors for a man-made grotto retreat. The arches were laminated and pressed, and the doors (poorly seen here, I know.) are glued solid Spanish Cedar. I recall using a marine glue for the project, but it turned out a whole lot better than this awful picture might indicate.

Common Uses: Arched door construction, casings, veneers, plywoods, humidors, musical instruments, furnishings, turnings, cigar boxes, decking, boat building, cabinetry, millworks, coffins, chairs, windows, sills.

From: The Wood Database

Common Name(s): Spanish Cedar, Cedro
Scientific Name: Cedrela odorata
Distribution: Native to Central and South America and the Caribbean; also grown on plantations
Tree Size: 65-100 ft (20-30 m) tall, 3-5 ft (1-1.5 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 30 lbs/ft3 (475 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .38
Hardness: 600 lbf (2,670 N)
Rupture Strength: 11,640 lbf/in2 (80,280 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 1,338,000 lbf/in2 (9,230 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 6,210 lbf/in2 (42.8 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 4.2%, Tangential: 6.3%, Volumetric: 10.3%, T/R Ratio: 1.5

Know Your Wood: African Mahogany

2012-02-06T21:30:00.001-06:00

African Mahogany

African "mahogany" became the world's top selling mahogany product in the past century, though the true mahoganies are native to the Americas.

Common trade names: African Mahogany.

Genus: Khaya ivorensis, Khaya spp.

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 910

Description: Medium to coarse texture with open pores. The grain can be all over the place. Straight, interlocked, wavy, depending on the cut of the lumber and the quality of the plant. African mahogany’s heartwood is light brown to deep reddish-brown. African mahogany, like Honduras mahogany, features chatoyancy of the wood surfaces.

Location: Africa, namely: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Senegambia, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Sudan, Uganda, among others.

Common Aliases: Acajou bassam, Acajou d’Afrique, Akuk, Benin mahogany, Biribi, Bitehi, Dubini, Dukuma fufu, Dupuin, Eri Kiree, Humpe, Khaya, Khaya mahogany, Lokobua, Munyama, Ngollo, Oduben, Ogurano, Orkogho, Red mahogany, Senegal mahogany, Tiamatiama

Performance: Glues and finishes well, and is very easy to work, although the grain can tear easily once blades are slightly compromised. Sands, stains, and finishes quite well.

A wood so fine, Billy Dee Williams, Barry Gordy, and sweet Diana went and made a movie.

Common Uses: Window construction, boat building, decking, planking, ships, furniture, exterior construction, turnings, flooring, light construction, millwork, musical instruments, cabinetmaking, moldings, paneling, vehicle parts, veneers, and countless other uses.

From: The Wood Database

Common Name(s): African Mahogany
Scientific Name: Khaya spp. (Khaya anthotheca, K. grandifoliola, K. ivorensis, K. senegalensis)
Distribution: West tropical Africa
Tree Size: 100-130 ft (30-40 m) tall, 3-5 ft (1-1.5 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 43 lbs/ft3 (685 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .55
Hardness: 910 lbf (4,040 N)
Rupture Strength: 12,240 lbf/in2 (84,410 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 1,383,000 lbf/in2 (9,540 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 8,100 lbf/in2 (55.9 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 3.7%, Tangential: 6.6%, Volumetric: 10.3%, T/R Ratio: 1.8

Know Your Wood: Honduran Mahogany

2012-02-06T20:37:00.000-06:00

Honduran Mahogany

Honduran, or "Genuine" mahogany, features chatoyancy, the optical change in luster partially seen here.

Common trade names: Mahogany, Genuine Mahogany, Honduran Mahogany, Brazilian Mahogany

Genus: Swietenia macrophylla

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 900

Description: Medium texture and pores, generally speaking. Heartwood of Honduran Mahogany can vary quite a little bit from pale pinks to deep red browns. The color will deepen in time, usually. Honduran Mahogany is marketed by many as “Genuine” Mahogany to provide a distinction between this product and African variations on the mahogany product. Cuban Mahogany is a different species yet, but the Honduran mahogany was predominantly traded in the eighteenth century. African replaced the American mahoganies as the worldwide primary supply over the previous century. Today, Honduran Mahogany is widely plantationed, and is available worldwide, but usually at a cost. The history of the mahogany trade is that of the industry being mostly reactive and sluggish to respond to supply variations among species, but the industry has, by and large, learned many lessons in diversification and sourcing of various species. Honduran mahogany remains in high demand worldwide, though most of its production today is in the Asian tropics and Isles.

Location: The tropics. Native to: Mexico through Central America. Farmed in: Bahamas, Belize, Brazil, Columbia, Cuba, Hispaniola, Honduras, Indonesia, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, Venezuala.

Common Aliases: Acajou, Acajou d’Amerique, American mahogany, Bay mahogany,Madeira, Caobilla, Cedro espinoso, Large leaf mahogany, Tabasco mahogany.

Performance: Glues and finishes very well. Machines well, but the grain can be easily torn by reckless machining. Sands exceptionally easily. Turns, stains, and finishes quite well. Can be vulnerable to insect attack, but Honduran Mahogany is primarily an interior finish wood.

Common Uses: Furniture, millwork, turntables, speakers, audio equipment, cabinetmaking, chairs, dinettes, veneers, flooring, moldings, paneling, hatracks, shipbuilding, canoes, coffins.

From: The Wood Database

Common Name(s): Honduran Mahogany, Honduras Mahogany, American Mahogany, Genuine Mahogany, Big-Leaf Mahogany, Brazilian Mahogany
Scientific Name: Swietenia macrophylla
Distribution: From Southern Mexico to central South America; also commonly grown on plantations
Tree Size: 150 ft (45 m) tall, 6 ft (2 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 41 lbs/ft3 (655 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .54
Hardness: 900 lbf (4,000 N)
Rupture Strength: 11,660 lbf/in2 (80,390 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 1,386,000 lbf/in2 (9,560 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 6,550 lbf/in2 (45.2 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 3.0%, Tangential: 4.1%, Volumetric: 7.8%, T/R Ratio: 1.4

Know Your Wood: Teak

2012-02-06T00:03:00.001-06:00

Teak

1.2 km of Teak to walk on right there.

Common trade names: Teak, Burmese Teak.

Genus: Tectona grandis

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 1070

Description: Coarse texture with medium pores. Teak has a generally straight grain pattern, though as is the case with many tropical species, the grain will occasionally interlock or become wavy. Teak is a generally oily wood, with heart wood is medium brown to golden-brown. Teak is generally easy to work, excepting the high silica content of the wood, which blunts tools quite easily. Despite being heavily plantationed worldwide, Teak is a very expensive and coveted wood.

Location: The tropics. Native to: India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Burma. Farmed in: Benin, Cameroon, Congo, Fiji, Ghana, Honduras, Myanmar, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Vietnam, Zaire

Common Aliases: Burma Teak, Deleg, Dodolan, Genuine teak, Gia thi, Jate, Jati, Jatos, Kulidawa, Kyun, Rangoon teak, Sagwan, Teca, Teck, Tekku, Tik, Tsik.

Performance: Glues and finishes well, and is very easy to work excepting the silica level noted above.

Versatile and durable, Teak is a fine solution for interior and exterior works.

Common Uses: Window construction, boats ships, furniture, exterior construction, turnings, flooring, light construction, agricultural implements, cabinetmaking, moldings, paneling, vehicle parts, and countless other uses.

From: The Wood Database

Common Name(s): Teak, Burmese Teak
Scientific Name: Tectona grandis
Distribution: Native to southern Asia, Teak is also widely grown on plantations throughout tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Tree Size: 100-130 ft (30-40 m) tall, 3-5 ft (1-1.5 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 41 lbs/ft3 (650 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .54
Hardness: 1,070 lbf (4,740 N)
Rupture Strength: 13,940 lbf/in2 (96,140 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 1,570,000 lbf/in2 (10,830 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 7,770 lbf/in2 (53.6 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 2.5%, Tangential: 5.8%, Volumetric: 7.0%, T/R Ratio: 2.3

Know Your Wood: Ebony

2012-02-05T22:58:00.001-06:00

Ebony

I've aspired more than once to build a board that looked like this, but it never worked out this well!

Common trade names: Gaboon Ebony, African Ebony, Cameroon Ebony, Nigerian Ebony.

Genus: Diospyros crassiflora

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 3220

Description: Very hard to work. Quite heavy and dense. None more black. The Ironbarks, by their colorfully marketable names, are used quite a bit in outdoor applications in their native Austrialia. *There is some ambiguity to the specific scientific properties of this species. In any event, there is consensus that this species is extremely dense and hard.

Location: Africa. (Distributed/farmed in Oceania and SE Asia additionally.)

Common Aliases: Kanran, Kayu malam, Kribi ebony, Kurkuo, Mgriti, Msuini, Nyareti, Omenowa, Trayung

Performance: A very durable, high oil content wood. Ebony can be difficult to glue, due to this oily nature. Ebony is resistant to many insects. Will dull cutting blades quickly.

Common Uses: Works of art, fine carvings, chess pieces, piano flats/sharps, pool cues, other ornamental pieces.

About as densely darkened as wood comes without artificial dying.

From: The Wood Explorer

Common Name(s): Gaboon Ebony, African Ebony, Nigerian Ebony, Cameroon Ebony
Scientific Name: Diospyros crassiflora
Distribution: Equatorial West Africa
Tree Size: 50-60 ft (15-18 m) tall, 2 ft (.6 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 65 lbs/ft3 (1,035 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .78
Hardness: 3,220 lbf (14,320 N)
Rupture Strength: 24,300 lbf/in2 (167,600 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 2,494,000 lbf/in2 (17,200 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 12,980 lbf/in2 (89.5 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 6.5%, Tangential: 9.0%, Volumetric: 15.5%, T/R Ratio: 1.4

Know Your Wood: Ironbark

2012-02-05T21:11:00.001-06:00

Ironbark

I'm no artist, but I'm plenty happy many people are.

Common trade names: Grey Ironbark, Black Ironbark, Red Ironbark.

Genus: Eucalyptus paniculata

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 2862-3664*

Description: Very hard to work. Quite heavy and dense. Heart wood is brown to red-brown. The Ironbarks, by their colorfully marketable names, are used quite a bit in outdoor applications in their native Austrialia. *There is some ambiguity to the specific scientific properties of this species. In any event, there is consensus that this species is extremely dense and hard.

Location: Australia and Oceania.

Common Aliases: Paniculata gum, ironbark Iron Bark.

Performance: Tungsten/Carbide tipped saws should be used in working Ironwood. Blunting is severe in the machining process, boring and cutting are difficult, so exercise care with very sharp tools. There are multiple mentions of planing being quite difficult for this species, and for finer works, that it was somewhat difficult to navigate. I would tend to believe the upper realm of the hardness scale range for this species.

Acclimation: Allow adequate time for the species to equalize its moisture content to your environment.

G'day, mate! We'll be stealing your summer away soon enough...

Common Uses: Agricultural implements, boats, bridges, cabinets, floors, decks, tool handles, rail ties, vehicle parts, wharf construction.

From: The Wood Explorer and Australian Hardwood Network

Common Name(s): Grey Ironbark, Black Ironbark
Scientific Name: Eucalyptus paniculata
Distribution: SE Australia, especially coastal
Tree Size: 20-30 ft (6-9 m) tall, 2-3 ft (.6-1.0 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 82 lbs/ft3 (1,310 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: 1.138*
Hardness: 2,862 lbf (16,300 N)
Elastic Strength: 25,113 lbf/in2
Crushing Strength: 12,223 lbf/in2
Shrinkage: Radial: 4.5%, Tangential: 7.5%, T/R Ratio: 1.67

*From Scientific American, 1881, Supplement, Vol. 12

Know Your Wood: African Blackwood

2012-02-05T09:55:00.000-06:00

African Blackwood

Nothing says "I'm me! Look, dammit!" quite like a gilded African Blackwood ipad.

Common trade names: African Blackwood, African ebony, Ebene, Zebra wood, Mpingo.

Genus: Dalbergia melanoxylon

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 2940-4730*

Description: Not considered the true ebony, but considered the original African ebony, if that makes any sense. This commercially available wood is grown in Africa natively, and has been farmed successfully in Florida and Asia, if numerous sources are to be trusted. *There is some ambiguity to the specific scientific properties of this species. In any event, there is consensus that this species is extremely dense and hard. In at least one test, it measured the hardest among roughly 285 species.

Location: Central Africa, namely: Angola, Central African Republic, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe.

Common Aliases: African ebony, African grenadillo, Blackwood, Ebene, Lurr, Mozambique ebony, Muhati, Murwiti, Pingo, Rugbe, Shami, Umbambangwe.

Performance: Tungsten/Carbide tipped saws should be used in working African Blackwood. Blunting is severe in the machining process, boring and cutting are difficult, so always exercise care with sharp tools. I would tend to believe the upper realm of the hardness scale range for this species.

Acclimation: This species is available mainly in smaller quantities, and is a quite expensive product. Still, allow time for the species to equalize its moisture content to your environment.

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Common Uses: Modern common applications are turnings and fine woodworks. African Blackwood is coveted by craftsmen globally.

From: The Wood Database

Common Name(s): African Blackwood, Mpingo (Swahili)
Scientific Name: Dalbergia melanoxylon
Distribution: Dry savanna regions of central and southern Africa
Tree Size: 20-30 ft (6-9 m) tall, 2-3 ft (.6-1.0 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 82 lbs/ft3 (1,310 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: 1.08
Hardness: 4,730 lbf (21,060 N)*
*Estimated hardness based on specific gravity (see comments below).
Rupture Strength: 31,000 lbf/in2 (213,790 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 2,980,000 lbf/in2 (20,550 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 10,470 lbf/in2 (72.2 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 2.5%, Tangential: 4.5%, Volumetric: 7.6%, T/R Ratio: 1.8

Know Your Wood: Brown Ebony

2012-02-05T08:00:00.000-06:00

Brown Ebony

This sanded sample from The Wood Database displays the distinctive properties of Brown Ebony.

Common trade names: Brazilian Ebony, Coffeewood, Cuji yaque

Genus: Caesalphinia (C. granadillo, C. paraguariensis, etc.)

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 3590

Description: Tightly grained. Slightly pored randomly. A very deeply toned red/brown wood that may or may not feature growth rings distinctly. A very hard wood with interesting features.

Location: Central to South America, namely: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Venezuela.

Common Aliases: Ebano, Granadillo, Guayacan, Maracaibo, Mesquite, Pao ferro, Partridge wood, Yaqye.

Performance: N/A. If you have performance data in working this species, please contact me. I find this stuff interesting.

Acclimation: N/A.

Common Uses: Implements for agriculture, tool handles, cabinets, artwork, piling, rail ties, turnings, veneers.

From: The Wood Database

Common Name(s): Brown Ebony
Scientific Name: Caesalpinia spp. (C. granadillo, C. paraguariensis, etc.)
Distribution: Semi-arid regions of South America
Tree Size: 30-50 ft (10-15 m) tall, 2-3 ft (.6-1.0 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 74 lbs/ft3 (1,185 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .91
Hardness: 3,590 lbf (15,970 N)
Rupture Strength: 21,750 lbf/in2 (150,000 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 2,320,000 lbf/in2 (16,000 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 11,760 lbf/in2 (81.1 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 5.5%, Tangential: 6.4%, Volumetric: 14.0%, T/R Ratio: 1.2

Know Your Wood: Curupay

2012-01-31T14:47:00.001-06:00

Curupay

Dark and distinctive, Curupay, or Cebil, is a great choice for a great many applications.

Common trade names: Cebil, Curupay

Genus: Anadenanthera colubrina (syn. Anadenanthera macrocarpa)

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 3630

Description: Curupay features deep brown to brown-red hues, characterized by prominent streaking, regularly following the grain patterns of the wood. The grain is highly interlocked and moderately figured, and Curupay has a fine to moderate texture.

Location: Latin America, specifically: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, Bolivia

Common Aliases: Angico, Cambui-ferro, Cebil moro, Curupay-ata, Guarapiraca

Performance: Almost as hard as any wood available, this is a fine choice for exterior application. It is highly insect and rot resistant, and is a more or less generational solution for the designer or homeowner. It’s very distinctive, and if architects or designers are searching for a wood that will “pop,” this is one species that can do the job, and can stand the test of time.

Acclimation: Please, always properly store and set aside your lumber! We can’t stress enough the importance of just a little patience when receiving your order. For air drying, simply allow a half-inch or so among parallel planks stacked and spaced by level. It’s that easy, and in two or so weeks’ time, the lumber is ready for installation in your climate!

A Curupay tree, found commonly in South America.

Common Uses: Tool handles, docks, chemical containers, foundation pilings, furniture, ground contact, vehicle parts, wharf building, exterior and interior trim, rain screen siding, shiplap, turnings.

From: The Wood Database

Common Name(s): Cebil, Curupay
Scientific Name: Anadenanthera colubrina (syn. Anadenanthera macrocarpa)
Distribution: Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay
Tree Size: 65-80 ft (20-25 m) tall, 2-3 ft (.6-1.0 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 66 lbs/ft3 (1,060 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .86
Hardness: 3,630 lbf (16,150 N)
Rupture Strength: 28,010 lbf/in2 (193,180 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 2,639,000 lbf/in2 (18,200 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 14,100 lbf/in2 (97.2 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 4.6%, Tangential: 7.6%, Volumetric: 12.0%, T/R Ratio: 1.7

Know Your Wood: Australian Buloke

2012-01-31T12:37:00.002-06:00

Australian Buloke

The Australian Bull Oak tests out as the most difficult to penetrate by at least one measure.

Common trade names: buloke, bull-oak

Genus: Allocasuarina luehmannii

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 5060

Description: Possibly there exist limitations to what a woodworker will endure. I’ve been unable to locate any information about the use of this lumber as a lumber, but I’ve found that it’s vital to the continuing survival of a southeastern subspecies of the Austrialian Red-tailed Black Cockatoo for both food and lodging.

Location: Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales in Australia

Common Aliases: Australian buloke, Australian bull-oak

Performance: If you can get your hands on some of this, please let me know how it turns out for you. I believe it would be interesting to hear at least one opinion except that it’s the hardest wood that’s been tested with the Janka scale. There is mention from Australian government issues alluding to its strong performance as a fuel wood. It looks like it should be able to grow about anywhere, and it is unclear whether this wood is useful at all to the professional or hobbyist woodman.

Acclimation: It looks as though one would have to travel to Australia, and possibly purchase this wood on the black market. I have seen no place where it is being sold in the United States, and I don’t know how Australian jails might differ from American ones, should its trade be illegal. Again, your input could be helpful in this identification project.

Common Uses: Nesting and feeding of the Australian Red-tailed Black Cockatoo.

From: florabank

Common Name(s): Allocasuarina luehmanni
Scientific Name: Allocasuarina luehmanni
Distribution: Queensland, Western New South Wales, Northwestern Victoria
Tree Size: 30-60 ft (10-20 m) tall, 2-3 ft (.6-.9 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: N/A
Basic Specific Gravity: N/A
Hardness: 5,060 lbs.f.
Rupture Strength: N/A
Elastic Strength: N/A
Crushing Strength: N/A
Shrinkage: N/A

Know Your Wood: Lignum Vitae

2012-01-31T11:30:00.001-06:00

Lignum Vitae

Try not go get whacked with this bad boy. It will win the mallet v. bone competition.

Common trade names: Bera, guayacan, guaiacum, pockenholz (European),

Genus: Guaiacum officinale

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 4500

Description: Deep olive-brown to brown, sometimes approaching black. Has a uniquely layered grain pattern when held under close inspection. There are trade substitutes available to genuine Lignum Vitae, but the Argentine Lignum Vitae (Verawood) is generally lighter color than that of the wood specified herein.

Location: Caribbean and Central and South America, namely: Bahamas, Costa Rica, Cuba, Hispanola, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Venezuela, Puerto Rico. Farming operations are underway worldwide to ensure continued production of this valued species, though it is currently a highly endangered species.

Common Aliases: Bois de gayac, Bois sant, Legno benedetto, Legno nefritico, Legno santo, Wood of life

Performance: Please take very light passes when working Lignum Vitae. It’s about as hard and as durable as can be obtained against the plagues of rot and insect.

Acclimation: If you’re purchasing Lignum Vitae, you already know this, but for air drying, simply allow a half-inch or so among parallel planks stacked and spaced by level. It’s that easy, and in two or so weeks’ time, the lumber is ready for working in your climate!

Common Uses: Tools, bearings and bushings, pulleys, turnings, countless other turnings and various works requiring the most durable of woods.

From: The Wood Database

Common Name(s): Lignum Vitae
Scientific Name: Guaiacum officinale, G. sanctum
Distribution: Central America and northern South America
Tree Size: 20-30 ft (6-10 m) tall, 1-2 ft (.3-.6 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 84 lbs/ft3 (1,350 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: 1.02
Hardness: 4,500 lbf (20,020 N)
Rupture Strength: 17,760 lbf/in2 (122,490 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 2,304,000 lbf/in2 (15,890 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 11,400 lbf/in2 (78.6 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 5.0%, Tangential: 8.0%, Volumetric: 13.0%, T/R Ratio: 1.6

Know Your Wood: Sapele

2012-01-30T20:40:00.001-06:00

Sapele

A substantial specimen, even in the jungles of the Congo.

Common trade names: Gold Coast cedar, Assie sapelli, Lifari, Sapele mahogany, Scented mahogany, West African Cedar

Genus: Entandrophragma cylindricum

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 1480

Description: Red to purplish brown, medium to dark. Color will darken over time. Figuring is a prominent feature of Sapele, and there is a wide variety of patterns that occur in this species. Grain is generally wavy and interlocked. Moderately to very durable to rot. Some insects will get after Sapele.

Location: Central Africa, namely: Angola, Cameroon, Congo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Zaire, Uganda, Togo, Central African Republic, Gabon.

Common Aliases: Liboyo, Odupon, Penkwa, Tshimay noir, M’boyo

Performance: Tearout can occur more frequently than with most due to the interlocking nature of the grain. Furthermore, a chemical reaction resulting in staining may occur when put into direct contact with iron. Weird wood here.

Acclimation: For air drying, simply allow a half-inch or so among parallel planks stacked and spaced by level. It’s that easy, and in two or so weeks’ time, the lumber is ready for installation in your climate!

Common Uses: Musical instruments, furniture, boatbuilding, turnings, knick-knacks, veneers, plywood.

From: The Wood Database

Common Name(s): Sapele
Scientific Name: Entandrophragma cylindricum
Distribution: Africa
Tree Size: 100-150 ft (30-45 m) tall, 3-5 ft (1-1.5 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 45 lbs/ft3 (715 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .55
Hardness: 1,480 lbf (6,580 N)
Rupture Strength: 16,030 lbf/in2 (110,550 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 1,700,000 lbf/in2 (11,720 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 8,700 lbf/in2 (60.0 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 4.6%, Tangential: 7.4%, Volumetric: 14.0%, T/R Ratio: 1.6

Know Your Wood: Cuban Mahogany

2012-01-29T19:20:00.000-06:00

Cuban Mahogany

Sunken Florida Mahogany. Quite rare, and wonderfully preserved with distinctive streaking.

Common trade names: Cuban Mahogany, West Indian Mahogany, Florida Mahogany

Genus: Swietenia mahogani

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 1160

Description: Cuban Mahogany has been exported to Europe since the 1500s. The range cited below for Cuban Mahogany does not represent all areas of the earth it is now cultivated. Farms in Asia and Africa may also produce this lumber as a commercial product. It’s a rich brown wood with generally even grain, easier to work than most tropical outdoor hardwoods such as Ipe and Cumaru. Cuban Mahogany is still a generally strong lumber.

Location: Southern Florida, The Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, St. Croix, Hispaniola, Virgin Islands.

Common Aliases: Acajou de Cuba, Acajou de Saint Domingue, etc. Bay mahogany, Jamaica Mahogany, etc.

Performance: Easy to work, easy to turn, yet strong and durable enough for a variety of uses. Machines well, and responds nicely to sanding. It’s hard to get a hold of this stuff, as not much is made commercially available, and what is becomes quite expensive!

Acclimation: Give your lumber a couple of weeks time to properly adjust to your local climactic conditions.

Common Uses: One of the historically preferred cabinetry woods. Over-exploitation of Cuban Mahogany has led directly to the restrictions placed upon it today. Cuban Mahogany has become so scarce that Honduran Mahogany is now marketed widely as Genuine Mahogany, as it is a quite close substitute, but they are in fact different. Uses include furniture building, cabinetry, musical instruments, turnings, boatbuilding, fuel wood.

From: The Wood Database

Common Name(s): Cuban Mahogany, West Indies Mahogany
Scientific Name: Swietenia mahogani
Distribution: Southern Florida and the Caribbean
Tree Size: 65 ft (20 m) tall, 3-5 ft (1.0-1.5 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 42 lbs/ft3 (670 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .56
Hardness: 1,160 lbf (5,150 N)
Rupture Strength: 13,520 lbf/in2 (93,230 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 1,385,000 lbf/in2 (9,550 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 7,090 lbf/in2 (48.9 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 3.7%, Tangential: 4.4%, Volumetric: 6.5%, T/R Ratio: 1.2

Know Your Wood: Jatoba

2012-01-29T17:08:00.000-06:00

Jatoba

Common trade names: Brazilian Cherry, Jatoba

Genus: Hymenaea courbaril, Hymenaea resinifera

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 2820

Description: Jatoba is referred to popularly as Brazilian Cherry, but it is in not related to the Cherry species commonly used in North America. It tends to darken with age. The grain is generally pretty plain, with hues ranging from light orange-brown to a deeper red-brown tone. Has a medium texture and its pores are relatively large.

Location: Mexico through South America

Common Aliases: Guapinol, Brazilian Cherry, Colorado, Jatoba trapuca, Jatoba verdadeiro, Simiri

Performance: Take care when planing Jatoba, as the interlocking grain patterns tnd to tear over time. It’s considered relatively difficult to work due to a combination of density and the grain pattern. Jatoba is very durable to rot resistance. Additionally, Jatoba features very high insect resistance, though there is evidence that marine borers can inflict harm on the wood. Regardless, it is stiff, strong, and hard, and is among the most durable of all marketable woods.

Acclimation: Please, always properly store and set aside your lumber! We can’t stress enough the importance of just a little patience when receiving your order. For air drying, simply allow a half-inch or so among parallel planks stacked and spaced by level. It’s that easy, and in two or so weeks’ time, the lumber is ready for installation in your climate!

Common Uses: Very commonly used domestically as an interior flooring. Other uses include furniture building, cabinetry, shipbuilding, turnings, and virtually any other woodworking project requiring a hard and durable species.

From: The Wood Database

Common Name(s): Jatoba, Brazilian Cherry
Scientific Name: Hymenaea courbaril
Distribution: Central America, southern Mexico, northern South America, and the West Indies
Tree Size: 100 ft (30 m) tall, 2-4 ft (.6-1.2 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 62 lbs/ft3 (990 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .77
Hardness: 2,820 lbf (12,540 N)
Rupture Strength: 23,430 lbf/in2 (161,600 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 2,717,000 lbf/in2 (18,740 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 11,860 lbf/in2 (81.8 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 4.5%, Tangential: 8.5%, Volumetric: 12.7%, T/R Ratio: 1.9

Product Applications: Fencing

2012-01-29T10:35:00.000-06:00

Kansas City, MO--Ipe has been used in the U.S. for decking for some time and and its popularity as a durable ipe rain screen siding is increasing. This past year we have seen an increase in sales of ipe lumber as fencing material.

From New York City to Bakersfield, California, Specialty Lumber Solutions has provided high quality ipe decking & ipe lumber to folks who chose its rich appearance and durable qualities as a fence. There is not doubt that an ipe fence will last for decades. In fact, if the posts and cross members are pressure treated lumber, those portions will fail long before the ipe will be compromised. So if you are looking for a rock solid fence that is going to stand the test of time, consider using ipe or another tropical hardwood such as cumaru or tigerwood. If you want a fence that is going to last for over 50 years, consider using ipe 4x4 and 2x4 cross members. It won't be cheap ... but then again you will probably never have to replace it in your life time.

Specialty Lumber Solutions has special pricing for ipe shorts which are ideal for fencing in a vertical or horizontal application. Ipe shorts usually consist of 4', 5' 6' and 7' lengths of 1x4, 1x6, 5/4x4 and 5/4x6. These are priced at about 30 - 35% lower than our standard ipe decking tally of 8'-20'.

CCM

Know Your Wood: Cypress

2012-01-28T22:42:00.000-06:00

Cypress

Distinctive knobs of the Cypress root system at low water.

Common trade names: Cypress, Southern Cypress, Sunken Cypress

Genus: Taxodium ascendens (Pond), Taxodium distichum (Bald), Taxodium mucronatum (Montezuma)

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 510

Description: Cypress is an affordable domestic alternatives for applications not requiring an extremely hard wood. Cypress is native to the Southeastern United States, and is marketable in many forms. Cypress is suitable for indoor or outdoor applications, and is a light and mellow brown, with sapwood lightening to a near white. Straight grained with a moderate texure, Cypress is very easy to work. Make sure you keep your tools very sharp to avoid ripping the grain. Very insect and rot resistant.

Location: Southeastern United States

Common Aliases: Cypress refers to any number of species found across several continents. For purposes of our marketable lumbers, Cypress is specifically linked to those found in the Southeastern US.

Performance: Cypress can be easily glued and worked. Keep tools sharp. For fine woodworking applications, cut with the grain to avoid unnecessary tearing. It’s a very good species for a number of uses.

Acclimation: Always stack and space your order upon its reception. This is true for every species we offer due to the local variations in climate.

Common Uses: Outdoor furniture, rain screen siding, shiplap, docks, boatbuilding, interior millworks.

Properties from: The Wood Database

Common Name(s): Cypress, Baldcypress
Scientific Name: Taxodium distichum
Distribution: Southeastern United States
Tree Size: 100 ft (30 m) tall, 3-5 ft (1-1.5 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 33 lbs/ft3 (525 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .42
Hardness: 510 lbf (2,270 N)
Rupture Strength: 10,600 lbf/in2 (73,100 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 1,440,000 lbf/in2 (9,930 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 6,360 lbf/in2 (43.9 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 3.8%, Tangential: 6.2%, Volumetric: 10.5%, T/R Ratio: 1.6

Know Your Wood: Massaranduba

2012-01-28T21:38:00.001-06:00

Massaranduba

Time on this rock is precious. We call it Massa.

Common trade names: Massaranduba, Massa, Brazilian Redwood

Genus: Malinkara bidentata

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 3190

Description: Massaranduba is a cost-effective, yet highly comparable alternative to slightly denser and more costly selections such as Ipe and Cumaru. Deep red hues accompany this delightful tropical hardwood, and the effective life of this species is over a couple of decades. The heartwood presentation may resemble that of purpleheart, though this is a different species. Straighter grains than most of the tropical hardwoods we offer, and the tree itself yields a natural latex (balata) from the sap, in addition to an edible fruit.

Location: Central and South America, Caribbean.

Common Aliases: Bullet wood, Balata, Bolivian Cherry, Ausubo, Macaranduba

Performance: Highly comparable to tropical hardwoods Ipe and Cumaru, but slightly easier to work.

Acclimation: As with any tropical hardwood, allow your material to adjust properly to its new environment fully stacked, spaced, and covered for a minimum of ten days. You will be glad you waited.

Common Uses: Golf balls (hist.), exterior decking, shiplap, rainscreen siding, whip handles, furnishings, patio furniture.

Properties from: The Wood Database

Bulletwood (Manilkara bidentata)
Common Name(s): Bulletwood, Massaranduba
Scientific Name: Manilkara bidentata
Distribution: Carribean, Central and South America
Tree Size: 100-150 ft (30-46 m) tall, 2-4 ft (.6-1.2 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 66 lbs/ft3 (1,060 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .85
Hardness: 3,190 lbf (14,190 N)
Rupture Strength: 29,690 lbf/in2 (204,760 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 3,332,000 lbf/in2 (22,980 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 13,380 lbf/in2 (92.3 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 6.3%, Tangential: 9.4%, Volumetric: 16.9%, T/R Ratio: 1.5

Know Your Wood: Tali

2012-01-28T00:01:00.003-06:00

Tali

Been there, done that.

Common trade names: Tali

Genus: Erythophleum suaveolens

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 2920

Description: Tali has a rich, warm hue across the red and brown color spectrum. It's very hard, grain typically tight, but may be irregular. Tali is a favorite of tropical hardwood enthusiasts virtually everywhere cricket is played. I've been watching lots of cricket lately. I'm hoping for a trickle-down effect relating to increased Tali demand. This is, after all, America.

Location: Tropical Africa, specifically Cameroon, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Zaire, Zambia.

Common Aliases: Fillaea suaveolens, A-kon, Buirame, Etsa, Tsa, and a host of many others in several languages.

Performance: It’s quite stable, and for a tropical hardwood, it glues well. Painting and staining are a little more relatively difficult with Tali than with some other tropical hardwoods. Painting isn’t something one should be doing with Tali in the first place. Can be sawn, planed, or turned with similar ease to its American tropical counterparts.

Acclimation: Please remember, Tali came from a continent across the ocean, and the tree it became likely grew up in a little different climate than the one in which you live.

Common Uses: Tali is much more common as an outdoor solution in Europe than America due to the proximity to the source of the end user. We are still able to bring you this wonderful African beauty at an affordable price. Much like any other tropical hardwoods, it thrives in outdoor applications, as is highly insect repellent. It is also among the least likely of woods to suffer a bout with mold or mildew.

From: Thewoodexplorer.com, Johnny W. Morlan, omoghardwood.com, apptimber.com

Common Name(s): Tali
Scientific Name: Erythrophleum ivorense or Erythrophleum suaveolens
Distribution: Tropical Africa
Tree Size: 100 ft (30 m) tall, 2-3 ft (.6-1.0 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 61-67 lbs/ft3
Basic Specific Gravity: .78
Hardness: 2,920lbf (12,989 N)
Rupture Strength: 177 Mpa
Elastic Strength: 15,700 Mpa
Crushing Strength: 78 Mpa
Shrinkage: Radial: 4%, Tangential: 7%, Volumetric: 12%, T/R Ratio: 1.75

Know Your Wood: Garapa

2012-01-27T18:53:00.000-06:00

Garapa

Blonde and beautiful. The fun might last a while longer with the wood, though.

Common trade names: Brazilian Ash, Amarealao, Marotoa, Muiratua, Grapia.

Genus: Apuleia leiocarpa

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 1650

Description: The lumber is derived from the genus of flowering legumes family, Fabaceae. Generally golden to fair brown in color, and its perceived hue can be quite affected by the effects of direct and indirect light. Interesting wood. Quite unique, however, and is much easier to work than Ipe or Cumaru.

Location: South America

Common Aliases: Brazilian Ash, grapia, Garrote, Muirajuba, Brazilian Oak. Garapa appears to have an identity crisis!

Performance: While easy to work, Garapa is a more or less generically scented wood that is fairly durable. Do not let anyone tell you Garapa is impervious to insects, because it isn’t. Nevertheless, it is a well above-average performing wood.

Acclimation: Garapa for an outdoor application should be kept on site, stacked and covered for one to three weeks prior to installation. Local climactic variations require a longer window.

Common Uses: Decks and docks, boats, exterior siding, and many other applications. We recommend to avoid direct ground contact with Garapa. Kiln dried Garapa will produce a sharp interior flooring, but remember that acclimation also applies to indoor installation projects!

From: The Wood Database

Garapa (Apuleia leiocarpa)
Common Name(s): Garapa
Scientific Name: Apuleia leiocarpa
Distribution: South America
Tree Size: 65-100 ft (20-30 m) tall, 3-5 ft (1-1.5 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 52 lbs/ft3 (835 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .66
Hardness: 1,650 lbf (7,320 N)
Rupture Strength: 17,020 lbf/in2 (117,340 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 2,163,000 lbf/in2 (14,920 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 9,140 lbf/in2 (63.0 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 4.2%, Tangential: 7.5%, Volumetric: 11.7%, T/R Ratio: 1.8

Know Your Wood: Tigerwood

2012-01-27T12:06:00.001-06:00

Tigerwood

This little stair jack used to bug me a great deal, but it's really grown on me over time.

Common trade names: Zebrawood, Tigerwood, Brazilian Tigerwood, Goncalo Alves

Genus: Astronium fraxinifolium, Astronium graveolens

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 2250

Description: Known for its distinctively bold grain patterns and varied coloring, Goncalo Alves (American Tigerwood) features a moderate reddish/brown coloring highlighted by deep brown and black streaks in the grain pattern. Its strength lies somewhere in the neighborhood of Jatoba, and for comparative purposes, the strengths of North American Maple and Red Oak are 1450 and 1290 respecively. Tigerwood is still a very strong material. Takes finish and works relatively well, considering it’s stiffness.

Location: Mexico through South America

Common Aliases: Brazilian tigerwood, Jobillo (among turners preferring higher grades of Goncalo Alves)

Performance: It’s quite moisture-resistent, it’s hard to glue, it’s hard (easy in comparison to Ipe or Cumaru) to cut. Again, don’t take an air gun to this wood. I’ve mentioned this occasionally with other species, but as long as I’m fielding phone calls about this topic, please don’t attempt to use compressed tools with this species if someone else is in the room. If you’re looking to make a statement on a design project, Brazilian Tigerwood is hard to beat. It’s priced a little more moderately than our top sellers, and will yield many effective years of life. weather or pest. Do not use compressed air tools without wearing goggles, gloves, thick clothing, in an otherwise empty room, as the fasteners will be airborne and elsewhere once you attempt to nail this material. Pre-drill, then screw, and it holds remarkably well. Hidden fastening systems are a great alternative to face fastening for a cleaner presentation.

Acclimation: Please, always properly store and set aside your lumber! We can’t stress enough the importance of just a little patience when receiving your order. For air drying, simply allow a half-inch or so among parallel planks stacked and spaced by level. It’s that easy, and in two or so weeks’ time, the lumber is ready for installation in your climate!

Common Uses: I’ve seen some rain screen siding in Tigerwood that made a sharp architectural statement. We’ve sold Tigerwood predominantly for decks and shiplap cladding applications to this point, but its uses as a furniture lumber are more than adequate for the experienced woodworker. Once again, remember to purchase your wood kiln dried for interior applications only, if at all possible. For interior kiln dried lumber, uses include flooring, cabinetry, turnings, and Goncalo Alves can make for striking imagery in the finished product.

From: The Wood Database

Goncalo Alves (Astronium graveolens)
Common Name(s): Goncalo Alves, Tigerwood, Jobillo
Scientific Name: Astronium graveolens (syn. A. fraxinifolium)
Distribution: From Mexico southward to Brazil
Tree Size: 100-130 ft (30-40 m) tall, 3-5 ft (1-1.5 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 62 lbs/ft3 (995 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .80
Hardness: 2,250 lbf (10,000 N)
Rupture Strength: 18,400 lbf/in2 (126,920 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 2,404,000 lbf/in2 (16,580 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 10,710 lbf/in2 (73.9 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 4.0%, Tangential: 7.6%, Volumetric: 10.0%, T/R Ratio: 1.9

Know Your Wood: Cumaru

2012-01-27T00:01:00.003-06:00

Cumaru

More reminiscing...

Common trade names: Brazilian Teak, Tonka, Southern Chestnut

Genus: Dipteryx odorata

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 3540

Description: Cumaru lumber is produced from the same plant that yields Tonka Beans, a vanilla substitute, perfume, and tobacco products. The FDA recommends today one not eat the product. Heartwood ranges from medium to dark brown, and various hues of red and purple. Cumaru tends to lighten with U/V exposure.

Location: Native to the Orinoco region of Northern South America

Common Aliases: Brazilian Teak, Tonka Bean.

Performance: It’s oily, it’s hard to glue, and the grain should be pretty well aligned to have success with fine woodworking using Cumaru. A milled product should be fine for your exterior applications, but please remember this wood is very nearly as dense as Ipe, and Cumaru dulls blades and breaks bits at the same rate as Ipe.

Acclimation: Cumaru for an outdoor application should be kept on site, stacked and covered for 10-21 days prior to installation. Generally speaking, the wood will acclimate properly on the low end of this scale, but local climactic variations require a longer window.

Common Uses: Virtually any project requiring a resilient and durable outdoor project. From decks to docks, to railroad ties or pilings, Cumaru can perform as well as almost any other organic product. Furnishings, floors, turnings, and cabinetry are other common uses for interior applications.

From: The Wood Database

Cumaru (Dipteryx odorata)
Common Name(s): Cumaru, Brazilian Teak, Tonka Bean
Scientific Name: Dipteryx odorata
Distribution: Northern South America
Tree Size: 130-160 ft (40-50 m) tall, 3-5 ft (1-1.5 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 68 lbs/ft3 (1,095 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .86
Hardness: 3,540 lbf (15,750 N)
Rupture Strength: 24,840 lbf/in2 (171,280 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 3,020,000 lbf/in2 (20,830 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 13,460 lbf/in2 (92.8 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 5.0%, Tangential: 7.6%, Volumetric: 12.0%, T/R Ratio: 1.5

Know Your Wood: Ipe

2012-01-26T23:14:00.003-06:00

Ipe

A nice reminder of our 2011 website...

Common trade names: Brazilian Walnut and Ipe refer to several species of the Genus Tabebuia.

Genus: Tabebuia spp.

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 3680

Description: Ipe is the hardest easily available tropical hardwood we offer. Its hues are generally an olive-brown, and the density of the lumber is quite impressive. Be prepared, as the grain pattern can be all over the place with this species. It’s as hard and durable as anything you’ll find.

Location: Central and South America

Common Aliases: Ironwood©, Pau d’Arco, Yellow Poui, Betharbara

Performance: It’s oily, it’s hard to glue, it’s hard to cut, and it will break every bit in your set. That said, once installed it’s awfully hard to beat. Many designers, builders, and homeowners regard this as an investment grade wood due to its ability to resist decay by weather or pest. Do not use compressed air tools without wearing goggles, gloves, thick clothing, in an otherwise empty room, as the fasteners will be airborne and elsewhere once you attempt to nail this material. Pre-drill, then screw, and it holds remarkably well. Hidden fastening systems were made for lumbers such as Ipe and Cumaru. Use air dried Ipe for outdoor projects, kiln dried for your indoor flooring and cabinetry applications.

Acclimation: Ipe for an outdoor application should be kept on site, stacked and covered for 10-21 days prior to installation. Generally speaking, Ipe will acclimate properly on the low end of this scale, but local climactic variations require a longer window.

Common Uses: Ipe is as hard as they come, and has been proven to withstand the rigors of nature. Ipe is our top selling wood, and is used in rainscreen siding applications, shiplaps, decks, docks, and more. For interior applications, flooring, cabinetry, turnings, and virtually any other project requiring a strong and durable lumber.

Specs below from: The Wood Database

Common Name(s): Ipe, Brazilian Walnut
Scientific Name: Tabebuia spp. (Tabebuiaguayacan, T. serratifolia, etc.)
Distribution: Tropical Americas (Central and South America)
Tree Size: 100 ft (30 m) tall, 2-3 ft (.6-1.0 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 73 lbs/ft3 (1,175 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .91
Hardness: 3,680 lbf (16,370 N)
Rupture Strength: 26,190 lbf/in2 (180,600 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 3,167,000 lbf/in2 (21,840 MPa)

U/V or not U/V?

2011-11-05T23:32:00.007-05:00

I get many questions about preserving the look of a newly installed product. Just today I fielded an inquiry about how to seal up and enhance the looks of a fire escape I installed earlier this year. It was a bargain job, with Yellawood and a cedar railing system, but for the moment, it still looks sharp. The trick here, even with a relatively inexpensive product like treated lumber is to maximize the life of the product to ensure proper return on the investment.

Ask your carpenter the right questions before it's too late.

I’ve been out of the deck “building” game since the days of CCA. I built that escape pretty much because it needed to be built. I didn’t make any money on that thing, but I don’t want the owner feeling like the money hasn’t been properly spent either, so I consulted someone who knew quite a bit more about the subject than I.

I went to Sherwin Williams. There’s a fellow over at my local store that I worked with in college for a time. He’s spent eighteen years since selling paint and protectants, and I’m pretty sure he knows what he’s talking about. My inquiry, in this case, was to the effectiveness of the products he offered to bring some color to that treated lumber and simultaneously protect the integrity of the wood. He went over the basics, such as using an oil-based application with some tint. Even a little tint is better than an untinted application in terms of durability of the coating, because it assists in blocking the damaging rays of the sun.

Yeah, sun…I’m calling you out. Sure, you heat the earth and provide it all possibilities necessary for life, but you’re also messing up these decks. So, please invest in a bit of tint if you’re worried about keeping the decking looking as much as it does as installation as possible. Trading off a little darkening initially can best preserve the coloration of your hardwoods, if this is the look that is desired.

Others want the natural coloration some of our hardwoods provide through the natural weathering process. Our customers who elect to naturally weather their hardwood installations aren’t making a bad choice at all, though there will be a little loss of the effective life of the deck. If we’re talking about a thirty year product, giving up a year or so of life isn’t that big a deal when weighed against the increased maintenance of keeping the product more deeply colored.

End sealer is non-negotiable in my book. If you want to greatly increase the chances of splitting on the ends of a highly unacceptable volume of product, feel free to skip the process. Sealing the end cuts with a wax or polymer sealant is the number one measure an owner can do to maximize the effective life of the product. To invest the amount of time and money of our exotic hardwoods while skipping the end sealing process is folly. It's inconvenient and time-consuming, but it's essential.

In any event, it’s always about the weather. I owe this blog an update on the effects of various meteorological conditions just as soon as I can figure out something useful and a little coherent on the matter. Any input from customers who don’t live in Kansas is greatly appreciated. (Not to discriminate against my wonderful fellow Kansans, it’s just that we already share a healthy bond of the wild variations in our beloved continental steppe.)

There are sealants of all types heading this way as we speak. I’ve just ordered a quart of Messmer’s UV+ to get started. I’m rounding up all kinds of products our customers have used through the years, and I’m going to put these finishes to an accelerated acid test starting this winter. I don’t know how much artificial wear of the likes I’ll be providing will enlighten me to the durability of these finishes, but there needs to be a starting point, and this is one of the winter projects for Specialty Lumber Solutions. We’re getting to the bottom of this. At least as a representative of what can happen in Kansas winters when a guy chains up several sticks of wood to the back of his truck and drives around 40 acres…the cattle are gone now, and that pond might as well do somebody some good.

Warps: Causes and Solutions

2011-10-26T23:24:00.000-05:00

We had a customer inquiry today about warping, and I thought I would place some response here. This article by Eugene Wengert and Dan Meyer from the University of Wisconsin is the most succinct summary of the prevention and remediation of warp I’ve been able to locate.

My response to the customer follows:

I'd like some clarification about your product. You say the decking has warping. An unusable warp represents significant deflection across both the x- and y-axes looking at a crosscut of endgrain. (product has a twist to entire length of stock)

Crooks, which I think are what you might be referring to here, are deflection across just the long presentation axis (where clips are inserted) of your surface boards. A bow would be remedied simply by installing the boards, I would think. I've never seen cupping be a serious issue with our stock.

Ipe is as solid as any organic building material you'll find, fire rated the same as steel or concrete. But with any organic product there are bound to be some imperfections from time to time. The sawyer won't always get it just right at the mill, so when the stock dries there is always the possibility of an issue. What is the volume of product that is twisted and unusable from your order? If you could take some pictures of these boards, that would be very useful to us.

I just finished replacing a fire escape with treated lumber, and I wouldn't use that stuff on anything that was my own. The owner selected that product due to monetary constraints, and within four or five years it is going to show. That contemporary treated product simply hasn't been given an acid test against midwestern weather yet, in my opinion. Yellawood, and other products like it, are going to be a decent selection for anyone who doesn't mind redecking every decade or so...or who doesn't mind annual maintenance of the product.

There was plenty of bowing of that material (and even a bit of bowed/crooked warping--I think I returned a couple of deck boards out of about 25...) We recommend to our customers to account for 8% waste in placing their order, so that the worst of the stock can simply be set aside for use in smaller cut runs. Bowing/crooking of any material longer than 8' is fairly common, and at 1" over 14', I would think most of the stock of that nature could be used. It's not always handy, but I've never built a deck that was particularly fun. Then again, I'm getting too old to be fooling around on many more decks.

Please give me a ring if you would like to further discuss this issue. Bugs won't be a problem with that species. The oils and genetic makeup of Ipe naturally provide all the protection against decay a person would need against the elements. Rot should occur under only the most exceptional of circumstances, and would require a little bit of creativity and bad planning to accelerate the process. The wood, once installed, is rock solid.

We at Specialty Lumber Solutions encourage our customers to order about 8% of waste above their order for a couple of reasons: 1) Every twelve deck boards or so, the worst board (usually still very high quality) is set aside for shorts and fill ins down the road; and 2) It’s a small buffer for minor underestimations of the takeoff. I’m guilty of this myself. On my last project, I was sent to the lumberyard after my initial delivery because of the unexpected and due to my own error. That 8% won’t always get your back, but it would have saved mine in this instance.

I’ve had pretty good luck getting rid of moderate crook with a couple of guys armed with chisels. It’s not particularly fun, but it is effective.

Relative Humidity, Part I

2011-07-21T11:48:00.000-05:00

Some time back, we had a customer make an inquiry to the effects of very low humidity coupled with extreme variances in temperature. I told Charles I would look into the thing, and possibly come up with a few conclusions about the topic. It turns out the effects of humidity and temperature variation on organic building supplies is a little more complicated than I’d initially thought, especially considering the wide variances among different wood species.

Kansans and Muscovites can look forward to this in about six months.

Further complicating a relatively simple inquiry is the fact that climactic variations throughout North America are extremely large. Virtually every condition in which man resides can be found somewhere in the United States. A blanket explanation or a simple chart is therefore impractical when considering the specific climactic occurrences one could encounter throughout the country.

The best thing a homeowner, contractor, or design specialist can do to ensure the maximum utility of their wood decking and siding products is to properly acclimate the wood to its new environment. I’ve written a little about this before. It is occasionally difficult for the contractor to exercise patience at this point of the process, as most of our orders are of a very time-sensitive nature. Skipping this important step in the process will only degrade the quality of the finish installation.

The science behind the nature of wood acclimation over time still fascinates me, however. It is impossible to predict exactly how any particular species will perform on site without first knowing the moisture content of the species at the point of installation, the length of time the acclimation process occurs on site, and the relative humidity and temperature variations of the installation climate. I’ll begin with some fundamental knowledge here, which is required for any further scientific explanation of this common and accepted variation in organic building supplies.

Simply put, relative humidity takes into account the pressure, temperature, and amount of water vapor present in the air to determine a uniform, temperature-neutral measure of the current air makeup. Relative humidity provides a little better measure of what’s actually going on as it relates to current weather conditions. I don’t know how much stock to put into the explanation found here, as I am not a scientist. I’m pretty sure that atoms bounce around at different rates depending on how warm they are. I leave further explanation of the phenomenon to the experts.

What’s important to the contractor and end-user is the net effect on the finished product. Checking is pretty common in dense timbers such as Ipe, where moisture within the timbers attempts to equalize with the moisture norms of its new environment over time. I don’t have a whole lot to say about other climates around North America. My experience in one of the most extreme climates in the world tells me that if it’s good enough for Kansas City, it’s probably going to be good enough for your location as well, so long as a few precautions are taken to value the overall appearance of the installation.

After doing some very basic research with the almanac, about the only other place on earth I can find with such a similarly severe continental steppe climate is that of Moscow. So, I’ll make the broad brushstroke here that woods such as Ipe, Cumaru, and Massaranduba would very likely take the pounding just about anywhere. No other places where people substantially congregate on earth experience the oppressive humidity, extreme hot and cold, and subsequent dryness associated with harsh winter with the steppe climate seen in Kansas City and Moscow. Five or six days a year, however, it is quite nice here. Probably most urban Russians could make a similar claim. Today is not one of those days. It is very likely to reach 105 degrees Fahrenheit here today with something meteorologists call a heat index in the neighborhood of 120 degrees. That means it’s pretty damned humid. So, if I’m still alive tomorrow, I’ll follow up on section II of this series. We’ll explore in greater detail just what to do about phenomenon such as today.

Minnesota: Closed for Government

2011-07-15T23:52:00.000-05:00

I wish I could explain Minnesota politics, but I cannot. There is a hell of a history in the land of 10,000 lakes. Professional wrestlers, comedians, and representatives with quite aggressive foster parenting histories adorn the history of politic in the state.

Well, they’ve outdone themselves and shut down their operations, but at least they hired someone to make a sign explaining the government shutdown, purportedly with government dollars. Will the Feds be next? I hadn’t heard of a debt deal yet today..

An article in this week’s Economist covers the Minnesota debacle much more clearly than I can.

Geithner's Swan Song?

2011-07-11T08:25:00.000-05:00

This is pretty dated, but I happen to be a few news cycles behind. Such is summer. I’m going to leap to the assumption that while sleeping, the Federal administrators of the United States have still failed to reach any sort of compromise to the debt ceiling, which could cause the country to default by August 2. This is pretty old news, and I shouldn’t have to be issuing anything about the subject, but the continuing inability of our two parties to find anything to do but blame each other for our nation’s ills is becoming more than a little alarming.

"So, The Federal Government and the People's Republic of China walk into a bar..."

One poor guy caught up in the middle of this mess is Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. This incumbent was previously the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Under his watch, Mr. Geithner reduced the amount of operating capital required to operate lending institutions. This is at least somewhat important to note, because in the same breath he is the man who helped orchestrate the structured bailouts of the volatile institutions of many Wall Street firms just three years ago.

He’s undoubtedly a man of many talents, but one thing that has been apparently lacking is a clear vision of future course from our current Treasury Secretary. It would be nice to hear a concise indication of direction concerning our nation’s currently unmanageable debt obligations. Without question he has the ability to kick the problem down the road. The question currently facing our nation is whether we have the stomach to make any meaningful progress toward an active resolution of an unsustainable situation.

Again, this is over a week old, but the Wall Street Journal published Damian Paletta’s review of future candidates for the Treasury post, should Mr. Geithner leave it following some so-called resolution of our current issues. Roger Altman, Erskine Bowles, Bill Daley, Jack Law, and Janet Yellen receive brief capsules of their individual qualifications. Hopefully, communication will be a strong suit of the potential successor.

Israel, Palestinian Reforestration, and You

2011-06-30T18:19:00.002-05:00

The Jewish National Fund is always going to be controversial. Their stated goal is to acquire and hold land for Jewish development in Palestine. Their first land purchase in Ottoman Palestine in 1903 predates by more than four decades the successful establishment of Jewish Israel after the Second World War. The JNF has been instrumental in the continuing political and economic operation of the Jewish state.

Free shipping, and $5 to the JNF. Mr. Linden is their American Spokesman.

Politics and history notwithstanding, I’m quite interested in the JNF’s active tree-planting operations. Many of the reforestation projects have come under some fire due to the incorporation of some non-native species. Additional claims of logistical military strategic plantings of these areas have been levied. Taking the politics completely out of this analysis is next to impossible, but I don’t much care WHY the JNF is planting trees where they are. I want to look at the ecological and economic effects of the program over time.

Bedouin overgrazing has been an issue in these arid lands for some time. Additional population additions to the area over time have compounded the strain on the resources of an already stressed area. Many of the JNF’s tree-planting programs have turned around once barren wastelands into sustainable forest locations. Cypress is heavily planted in Israel by the JNF.

The reforestation of pines carries an economic benefit for the JNF and the people of Israel over time. Turning non-productive lands into productive ones is always a sound economic model. Say what you want about the politic or intention of the issue at hand, the landowner is the landowner. I’ve seen many landowners do much worse with productive lands…

It has been estimated that the JNF, all holdings calculated, owns up to 13% of land in Palestine. So the West Bank issues still on the table for discussion are nothing new here. Sometimes forgotten or unknown are the years of capitalization and holdings growth that took place in the decades leading up to WWII. Much of the paperwork was already in place for that transaction.

Hal gets down and dirty with reforestation.

The JNF has been active in reservoir building, parkland establishment, and something in the neighborhood of 240 million trees have been planted, and over a quarter-million acres of land have been developed. They build roads. They build infrastructure. This is an essential piece to understand the current- and long-standing conflicts over the interests at work in any peace negotiations to even be conceivable. The overthrow of Israeli law could lead to massive disputes over property rights. And a hell of a lot more fighting.

Recent political turmoil for the JNF focused on the leasing operations to non-Jewish leaseholders, such as the Bedouins mentioned above. In Israel, like in the US, internal domestic debates over policy and practice eat up a lot of legislative time. Thus much continued discussion for another time.

A Post-Bubble Hangover

2011-06-28T15:38:00.000-05:00

Once in a while, a person has to wonder about the learning processes of Americans. A massive bailout of our banking system was necessitated almost three years ago by the inability of our biggest (and smallest) banks to properly regulate their own activities. Lending practices over the decade leading up to our housing meltdown could do nothing but lead to a market bubble. Home “ownership” rates were at an all-time high, and the corresponding failures of those being foreclosed upon now is a simple market correction of the banks’ collective inability to make accurate risk analyses.

An obese housing market slims down by wearing smaller pants.

The Weekend Journal had a good write-up by Nick Timiraos and Maurice Tamman about big banks’ response to being saved by the American taxpayer. After letting lending standards slide so far toward loose money, the banks, it seems, are overcorrecting a bit now. The tightening of the current money supply helps to indemnify lenders against future error, but the multiplier effect of funds available to lend and stimulate economic growth are now tied up in possibly overcautious rates of credit denial.

Today’s lending market is more heavily reliant on borrowers with ample cash, which creates kind of a vicious cycle here. Those who don’t need to borrow money have ample means and historically low interest rates with which to attain credit, while those people and areas that need credit the worst are now unable to acquire it.

If the banks were “too big to fail” three or four years ago, they are every bit as big or bigger today. Furthermore, their books are still polluted with toxic assets—a number of properties stagnated in limbo between foreclosure and renewed marketability. The banks can’t release all the foreclosures they should back to the market at one setting, or the entire pricing structure would become devalued. Every bank would be stuck with piles of worthless paper.

So now it appears our banks, and perhaps our housing market, are “too big to succeed.” Fun stuff, knee-jerk pendulum politics...

Goodbye, Holocene?

2011-06-06T23:43:00.000-05:00

The cover story of last week’s Economist suggests we may have seen the last of the Holocene. (The most recent geological epoch) It’s a little concerning to be among those actively participating in this transition. The article suggests that 90% of all plant activity in the world is reliant in some way upon people. The advances to worldwide food production have pretty much forced the issue upon our earth. It’s just not possible to expect the world to remain a similar place supporting ten times its population of three centuries ago.

Can the Robocene be far behind?

That responsible forestry has become a more acceptable practice worldwide is encouraging. Since we are already pretty much in the middle of an “Anthropocene Era,” we should do our best to not cause some sort of mass extinction, I suppose. Population swells will have to be managed with the available resources.

Meanwhile, people are certainly living longer. So the strains on the system increase incrementally with each generation, even if there were an effective zero population growth. This has been established already in much of Western Europe, but not so elsewhere in the world. China is already questioning its one-child policy as it is experiencing its most remarkable economic growth period in its modern history.

Again, we’ll see if we make responsible decisions home and abroad. International mandates have certainly become more common, and rogue nations are experiencing just a little bit of difficulty worldwide…in case anyone hadn’t noticed quite yet. Now we can root for a simple little epoch change instead of the end/beginning of a new era.

The May Jobs Report

2011-06-05T23:15:00.000-05:00

Still struggling a bit in the USA, it appears. The latest jobless numbers came out last week, and the consensus was fairly gloomy. Oh, well. This article by Justin Lahart in the Weekend Journal kicks this ball around in the dirt a bit. China is quite predictably selling off their short-term US Treasury holdings, and the Dow has ticked backwards for five consecutive weeks.

It appears we have room for improvement, eh? The housing market, for better or worse, is a crucial indicator of our nations’ economic strength. As I’ve mentioned before, we’ve got quite a way to go here. The final tally still isn’t even racked up on the total number of homes underwater. Part of the reason is that the banks left holding the paper aren’t in the position to absorb all the losses at this time. Furthermore, immediate liquidation of all delinquent properties isn’t possible—the devaluation of those currently making their payments would make virtually every home in the country unaffordable.

So we’re stuck for a bit. There is some good news, however. From May’s jobs report, Educational services, health care and social assistance, and mining and logging were sectors showing a net positive overall growth from January 2008 through May 2011. So…someone out there is still harvesting some trees. Construction still hasn’t made a complete recovery, but there are signs of this trend leveling out, and possibly rebounding pretty well in the next couple of years.

There is definitely development going on—it’s just a little more selective, and one hopes quite a bit better thought out than the practices of the first decade of this century. We will see. I remain optimistic. Growing pains are inevitable when an entire generation hadn’t seen a substantial letdown in economic growth. The measure of our character will be demonstrated, I suppose, in the nations’ response over the coming years. I’m cheering for consumer confidence!

Balata Balls: A Golf Flashback

2011-06-02T00:30:00.000-05:00

I was informed earlier today by Charles that we were playing in a golf tourney next Friday. If I could hit the ball at all right now, that would be one thing. Unfortunately, there’s much work to be done…So I hit the links.

A member's snapshot of the BGA the morning of the Open Championship.

The local golf course in my town is the Baldwin Golf Association, a nine-hole, 2833-yard sand greens remnant of the 1950s. Someone playing immediately before me left a treasure-trove of circa-1990 golf balls sprayed around the first hole of the club. (It’s a local custom to fire as many balls possible strewn randomly across the course, so that someone else can pick them up.) I was a well above-average player in 1990. Today, I don’t bother even handicapping myself. But the discovery of this golf-ball time machine took me back a bit.

One of my all-time favorite golf balls was the Titlist Tour 90 compression. It had a balata cover, offering the best feel one could accomplish for players who can work the ball a bit. I used to be one of those players, but I haven’t committed the time recently to make that happen again quite yet.

The balata cover used in the manufacture of these and many other popular balls of the era was derived from the sap of the Massaranduba (Manilkara bidentata) tree. These balls haven’t been made in quite some time, due to the more recent advances in Surlyn and other synthetic covers.

The diversity and wide range of uses for many tropical hardwoods is astounding. Medicines, latex, and many other raw materials are derived from responsibly harvested forests.

The earliest golf clubs were often produced with Hickory shafts. Persimmon was the wood of choice, back when they were making "wood" clubs. They were stiff, yet flexible. It was the best-suited shafting material for these earliest tools. With the industrial revolution came the advent of more predictable metals, and the consistency and mass-production capabilities of steel would later be supplanted with titanium- and graphite-alloyed creations.

None of this is very interesting if one can’t even properly strike the ball. I have a little work to do.

Proper Acclimation: A Necessity

2011-06-01T23:06:00.000-05:00

Too often in the contracting field, unnecessary and easily avoidable errors are made due to deadlines and impatience. I’ve been a culprit of this myself. Needing to have a job done by date X, corners are occasionally cut, and it almost always shows.

Vanessa Minnillo responds enthusiastically to the proper acclimation of her wood.

When a commitment is made to a high-end decking material such as Ipe, Cumaru, or Tigerwood, it’s essential to remember that with the solid durability and resilience of these species come a few concessions. The most important allowance any contractor or homeowner can make to assure the highest quality installation is proper acclimation of the building materials.

If I were contracting an exterior siding or decking job, I would certainly allow the delivered wood to be sorted, spaced, and stacked with adequate spacing to assure proper air-drying for all four surfaces of the material. Cover it, forget about it for a week or two. Catch up on some other projects. It’s so easy to get anxious for delivery of the stock and immediately start pounding through the inventory to finish the contract. Sooner than later, this oversight will show up.

It doesn’t always necessarily happen. But I wouldn’t want to assume the risk of anything but the highest-quality installation. If the homeowner/project manager is already investing several dollars per square foot for a high-end material, the project should likely be budgeted to allow for this crucial acclimation of the lumber. Especially in the instance of finish boards, risers, skirt boards, and other applications which require direct fastening and/or plugging, having as close to a fully acclimated lumber member will prevent splitting from shrinkage or swelling of the stock when it has not yet fully adapted to the local climate.

Less splitting, a truer feel of the finish presentation of the product, and a happier customer are what can be gained by simply exercising just a bit of prudence, and sometimes allowing a job a week or two allowance providing the stock, the builder, the architect, and the homeowner a proper chance at the highest-quality overall installation.

Angelium: Infrequently Asked Questions

2011-05-26T23:10:00.001-05:00

Charles mentions to me the other day, “when you’re doing one of your blogs, you might want to do something on Asswood.” Naturally, I’m now looking into such a fine sounding product. First step, a Google search: “Asswood red angelium” No results. Hmmm. Second search: “ass wood red angelium” The results bring back some guy whose blog title is “Old Man Eats S**t.” So, we’re getting closer. But nothing in The Wood Database, or a number of other directories I’d checked out pertaining to the offensive odor.

In an informal survey, four out of five Santa Monica carnival workers preferred Asswood over Greenheart.

Third Google attempt: “red angelium” provides a number of porn links on the first page. So, I’m starting to think this is a put-on. But one of the links appears to be a legitimate building product touting the use of French Oak and Red Angelium. This is progress…

Charles was talking with a client who had come across a great deal on some angelium. The price was great, but the client brought up the fact that he couldn’t stand to work the stuff because of the highly offensive stench. “Yeah,” Charles tells the guy, “we used to call that red angelium ‘asswood.’ It stinks!” So, I guess we have two votes against. I’ve never been around the stuff…I think I’ll take their words. We don’t offer the stuff, because we don’t like fielding complaints about the stink of wood.

But nothing truly valuable has come of this search. At this writing, it is simply CC telling me that he has smelled the red angelium, and it is quite unpleasant. I’ve heard others say the same thing about Spanish Cedar, but I’ve worked it and found it no more objectionable than Ipe…but I’m biased…horribly allergic to the Ipe. Another tale for another day…

Brazil's First World Play

2011-05-24T23:32:00.000-05:00

Evidence is mounting that Brazil’s days as a second-tier world player are numbered. In addition to sporting South America’s most robust economy, the wealth is also spreading now within the country’s poorest areas.

I will provide an additional bit of update when I have time…

Responsible Forestry Via Digital Imaging

2011-05-20T00:34:00.000-05:00

There’s a stunning set of images associated with a great article by Michael Lemonick in the May Issue of National Geographic. This image produced from the Society’s website does absolutely no justice to the quality of the content in the magazine, but I guess that’s why we subscribe?

The use of technology to map the carbon emissions in forests is vital to rainforest survival. Images can be provided in real time to assess the current conditions in many underdeveloped areas straight from space. The imagery in the magazine was provided courtesy of the Carnegie Airborne Observatory, Carnegie Institution for Science. I’d say they’re holding up their end of the bargain with this one.

Incentives for carbon storage in the canopy are suggested as an economic carrot to prospective slash and burners. If it somehow becomes beneficial for corporations and individuals to protect their renewable resources, everyone benefits.

There are a lot of misconceptions out there about the lumber industry. If the trees are gone, you see…we have no product. But…we have the ability to create more product. That’s exactly what’s been happening, especially over the last twenty years or so of much more advanced and increasingly responsible forestry.

My Introduction to Padauk

2011-05-19T23:09:00.000-05:00

I visit frequently with my dad. When we visit, and he’s about to brace me for something about to cost me money (buying his old cars, etc.), he introduces the proposition with: “Okay. Here’s the deal.” I don’t have any position in the world to complain about this arrangement, and I’ve become quite used to it. I’m scared to death of the next “deal”, because I’m getting to a place in life to have a great many more upcoming “deals.”

A Burmese, or Andaman Padauk. (Pterocarpus dalbergloides) With a little work, a guitar or two.

That being said, I had an inquiry today about the availability of Padauk. We don’t list the product in our price listings, but it is among a great many specialty items like greenheart, teak, and many others we are able to acquire. But here’s the deal:

It’s available by the bunk. The arrangement is such because furniture manufacturers shop in such a manner for that lumber. Rough widths, rough lengths. Random. That’s just how that “deal” goes. So…if you have any interest in about 300 board feet or so of Padauk, I can sure look into it for you.

The African Padauk (Pterocarpus soyanxii) is most widely available here to US woodworkers. The padauks and rosewoods are pretty similar woods in appearance, but the padauks generally have a coarser texture. Eric Meier's Wood Database has much more on the specifics and workability of Padauk, along with many, many other specialty species. It's a great resource.

Postpaid Freight

2011-05-18T03:32:00.001-05:00

I use the United States Postal Service quite a bit. Probably 90% of the financial transactions I conduct are reliant on this service. Recently, the USPS announced a $2.2 billion loss for the first quarter of the year. Not good. This Weekend Journal’s primary editorial calls it like they see it—the bailout is coming.

A photographic representation of the currently negotiated USPS labor deal.

The questions Americans should be asking are obvious—Why can’t we treat the Post Office more like a private company? For starters, despite the failures of pension structure and wage scaling within their newly negotiated contracts, the system works. I say this only based on my experiences of sending and receiving mail. Very low failure rate there.

We ship our parcels generally through other service providers. Most packages are samples received from our suppliers and provided to our clients. The main reason we elect these services are the much lower associated costs with using FedEx or UPS. USPS isn’t set up quite the same. My rural carrier, for instance, drives around in a compact Subaru wagon. Not much pickup and dropoff capabilities in that thing, but there generally isn’t much need for it.

I’m not sure we have a good idea how much any bailouts are even going to cost anymore. This is some bickering over semantics, but WSJ is wondering in a roundabout way the same thing. All the while, the Federal Government is effectively out of money, and the trickle down eventually hits everyone. There are too many currently working in government positions and fulfilling government contracts, and one weak link in the system affects many far down the line.

If the United States gets serious about itself in the coming decade, we will be fine. The uncontrolled public-sector spending and unfunded private mandates will have to be reigned in soon. James Freeman’s Weekend Interview with Stanley Druckenmiller inspects this issue’s ramifications. The question, as always, is: Will we ever learn?

Canada, China, People, Oil, and Trees

2011-05-17T21:15:00.001-05:00

Resource management will be a crucial factor guiding the success or failure of independent nations, and of the whole world in the coming decades. For starters, there are too many people running around this rock. We are able to feed what we’ve got right now…kind of…but one wonders how localized events could shape policy decisions among the world’s policy makers. And how long is our system sustainable?

Recent developments in Canada have the locals all fired up.

Healthy economies need growth. Growth presumes additional human and raw resources to fuel the system. Recent Chinese census results have policymakers across the Pacific wondering about the nations’ long-standing one-child policy. In China, like everywhere else in the world, the aging population needs eventual care, and when the demography shifts disproportionally away from the working age population…

Population density in China is already pretty high. China is still a fairly massive land, but many of its territories simply aren’t the most hospitable for human population. I won’t get into any sort of “Free Tibet” argument here—Every map I’ve seen printed for a very long time contains this patch of Himalaya within Chinese jurisdiction. The point here is that even though it’s a massive amount of territory, much of it remains to this day completely undeveloped.

So where will the Chinese, and other developing nations to obtain their raw materials and building supplies if their resources become tapped? Over this century, the strain on worldwide resources will necessarily become an increasing topic of international mandate and policy. Nations will remain autonomous, I’m sure, but who is currently well positioned?

I look North. Canada’s Provincial Governments are taking steps toward management of timber and oil reserves across its massive boreal forest. The oil is important, to be sure, but the responsible management of the timber reserves is at least as great a long-term international concern. At a moment in time where the Canadian Dollar is swapping close to straight-up with the US Dollar, we need to start asking ourselves about our own positioning for the decades to come.

Furthermore, liberal governance in Canada has been pushed aside for the moment at the Federal level. We will see over the coming months and years just what they might have in mind, and if it has anything to do with autonomy of local government.

America's Persistent Debt Issue

2011-05-15T00:40:00.001-05:00

It’s more than a little disconcerting that the United States Government seems indifferent toward a practical and workable solution to our current public debt situation. Perhaps the timetable isn’t what the public would like, but it is what The Market is now commanding.

This pic was taken during one of Mr. Heston's meditations with The Market. The tablets, translated loosely, read: "Pay down your debts, Charlton."

Somewhere a long way from here, where it is blazingly torrid and parched, a man is staggering dazedly down a mountain slope. He’s been hit with a meteorite. The Market’s message to that guy was probably to do something about the debt issue, and to bring a GPS with him when he’s wandering around in strange lands…

There was a good editorial in the May 23 issue of Forbes by David Malpass. I hope you have better luck with the link than I am having. Their site, much like their magazine, has been wildly inconsistent for me. Here, at least, is a semi-serious starting point of conversation regarding the tipping point of the nation. I agree with Mr. Malpass—we’re not there yet—but it could happen with continued disregard of some rather serious issues.

One is the debt to GDP issue. If the damned Forbes link above would work, you could read about it. Or...If you have the misfortune of being a subscriber, you have probably already read it. I haven't even cracked my Weekend Journal yet, and this is the treatment... Figures range generally from 79-90% debt to GDP as a point of very serious concern, and it appears the United States is diligently stomping its way into the mid-eighties within a few years. The US appears to be well-positioned to handle such nonsense with a bit of responsible management. Japan has demonstrated it is possible through sound asset management. We’ll see if this happens at home.

Durability v. Cost: Ipe, Cumaru, Jatoba & Etc.

2011-05-14T22:21:00.002-05:00

We received an inquiry this week in regards to comparative strengths and weaknesses among some of the products we sell. All hail Wikipedia! In short order, their "Janka Hardness Test" page was the best comparative chart I could find with easily accessible information on this topic.

A pretty nice Tigerwood deck. I've always had issues with the stair treatment here, but I've certainly done worse...

There are probably a number of silly things to be found on Wikipedia. My hope is that common sense will prevail for the moment, and prevent me from making embarrassing corrections to this post in the future. We will see. I imagine it’s pretty close, based on my personal experience.

A client called me a couple months ago, and asked about installing some ipe shiplap with a nail gun. It could just be me, but I’ve never been equipped with the required tool to get the job done properly. I would expect it would be a type of contraption that pre-drills a hole in your material with a laser followed up with one hell of a stiff fastener. If the US Patent Office wasn’t a couple of years behind, I might pursue something like that…

Another fellow asks about gluing ipe joints. “Get the stuff wet, and find the best marine epoxy you can find,” I believe is what I said. I say this because I’ve been that guy--you've seen him before!--gently, and with great difficulty, prying the poorly glued (via high-quality water-based glue, mind you) corner joints apart, and trying a different product. I know quite a bit more about what doesn’t work than what works.

Many of the imported species below face challenges when gluing in outdoor applications. The oil content and density of these species adds much durability and life to the product, especially when it’s not coerced to do things it doesn’t prefer to do. (Re: dry-glued with water-based wood glues!)

We’re able to get a number of the species listed on Wikipedia’s Hardness Test Page: (All average measures detailed on the site, measured in pounds-force)

Ipe (Brazilian Walnut): 4500
Massaranduba (Brazilian Redwood): 3190
Cumaru (Brazilian Teak, sometimes Brazilian Chestnut): 3540
Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry): 2350
Purpleheart: 1860
Caribbean Heart Pine: 1280
No Cypress listing that I see.

Lots of trade names mean virtually the same thing for similar species of wood. Once some of these species are cut down and milled, identification between subspecies can get to the point of nitpicking, so we’ll try to stick with the generality of the above comparison for a start. I’ll look into this a bit further. This is the type of thing that would make a good comparative chart. Many suppliers have pricing available on the webs, and we try to keep our listings as up to date as possible.

Hopefully, I'll have a little time to follow up on this soon.

End Cuts, Sealants, and Finishes

2011-05-13T14:26:00.000-05:00

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve now been asked twice about the most effective method of sealing end grain of ipe. There is considerable discussion in online forums regarding this matter, and I have to admit I cannot yet make an authoritative decision regarding this matter. That will change soon. Hopefully by the end of the month I will have some sort of start.

My initial hypothesis is that Anchor Seal, when properly installed, will be the equal to other sealers available on the market. I have no factual basis—just a lot of what I’ve already heard among those in the industry. I’d like to see how it measures up against the two-part epoxies, and some of the synthetics. There are A TON of products out there for this type of application.

Same with stains and finish sealants. This testing business could end up being pretty expensive. Just running some basic numbers through my head, the investment of wood, finishes, and sealants will exceed $1000 just to get started with a reasonable sample. And this will be just to see how quickly I can destroy the product…

I’d been planning on a study of various types of lumber available for exterior application. The first question I’d been asked was in reference to the finish application of the product. Again, there is a lot of disagreement among installers. Each individual has their own experiences with various products, and I’ll be conducting a survey quite soon from contractors throughout the country. If I can get them to respond to the survey…

See, here’s the thing about finishes…You generally get what you pay for. Last spring and fall, I was painting a wooden fence on the family farm. It needed it. Looked terrible. I scraped the hell out of the thing, repaired various splitting boards and such, and used a water-based primer on the stuff. This was done out of expedience, not because I’m clever.

I’m not clever. That thing looks like hell already, because a section of it blew over, and I got pissed I hadn’t sealed the thing in a proper oil-base before winter hit. And it was a hell of a winter here. So I get to not only rebuild the fence this year, I will also have the pleasure of painting it for a second consecutive year. I just ran out of time…

It looks to me that a separate test for end grain sealing and surface finishing should be performed. Here in Kansas, the weather is about as severe toward hot and cold extremes as anyplace I’ve looked up besides maybe Moscow. So, by exposing some sections to one coat, some to two, and some to three, we’ll be able to see some weathered results over time. The one coat application around here will be a tremendous failure, I’m sure. It will be interesting to see how quickly the samples deteriorate.

Maybe I’ll throw a sprinkler on them this summer when it gets up around 110F. Two or three times a day. This will be fun. I’ll admit right now I don’t know enough about this subject, but I’m looking forward to learning a little something new.

Infrastructure, The World Cup, and Brasil

2011-05-11T04:00:00.000-05:00

This week, The Economist has an interesting article on the progress of infrastructure development in Brazil. There have been numerous delays in the construction of several of the stadia to be used in the upcoming World Cup 2014 Competition.

Pele celebrating an occupancy permit for the 2014 World Cup in Manaus.

Brazil probably isn’t fundamentally different than a whole lot of other places inasmuch as once government gets too greatly involved, processes can grind down to unacceptable speeds. The whole of the country is very much on the clock right now, and there have already been concessions that venues may have to be changed due to the readiness of the facilities in which they were scheduled to be played.

These concessions don’t even address the problems potential visitors are facing once they arrive for the matches in Brazil. The Economist reports a somewhat woeful inadequacy in the nations’ current ability to effectively navigate its own infrastructure. Many needed airport upgrades are yet needed. (At 3.29 million square miles, Brazil's area is larger than the contiguous 48 states) Efficiency in transportation is logistically necessary because the sites are spread out all over this vast land.

Massive government spending is assured in Brazil in the coming years, and for the moment, their economy is relatively robust. By the end of this decade, chances are Brazil will be much closer to a mature world economy than one that is emerging.

And in the end, I’ll bet FIFA ends up playing a whole lot of futebol in a few years. And I’ll bet the Brazilians will throw a hell of a party, even if a contest or two turns into a pelada.

Wood Identification and Attribution

2011-05-10T20:24:00.001-05:00

The diversity of wood is a continuing appeal as a design feature in construction. For form, durability, and function, there are few products available that provide the flexibility of lumber and wood products. Modern polymers, plastics, and even concrete and steel offer relative strengths and weaknesses architects, designers, and builders must weigh to maximize the utility of each design element.

After looking around a bit, I ran into a fantastic site by Eric Meier called The Wood Database. I think it’s great. There is a good mix of scanned images of various species and their relative strengths and weaknesses. I refer to this site often these days. I was looking for a database for some time combining each of these aspects of woodworking and design.

He’s got periodic updates via articles and recent additions to the database. This Wood Database has proved to be quite helpful to me to gain a greater understanding of the variations between species in the lumber market. Here are some samples of his work on Lignum Vitae, Purpleheart, and Spanish Cedar. Lots of differently named lumber products are actually quite similar, and may be effectively identical products, depending on the site specs and demands to be made of the building materials.

Mr. Meier provides information about strength, shrinkage of tested materials, source of origin, scientific name, etc. etc. etc. I can’t say enough about the value of this resource if you wish to gain a good fundamental understanding of these diverse building materials. I can spend hours on this site. This won't interest everyone, but The Wood Database does a very good job concentrating a tremendous amount of information.

Underemployment, Continued...

2011-05-08T19:36:00.000-05:00

This is something of a continuation of the previous post. The latest United States unemployment numbers came out last week, and the news is mixed. An editorial in the Weekend Wall Street Journal provides a brief analysis of the figures’ current relevance.

Some good news, some bad. There are individual sector reports which are promising, and just looking around the landscape here in Kansas, things seem to be picking up a bit. I’m noticing some filling of commercial vacancies, and there seems to be a little less reluctance to get something up and going around here.

In the end, we will see. I remain hopeful that Americans will innovate and eventually excel, despite some of the current systemic barriers. This doesn’t seem to affect the upper-end markets at first glance, but there is indeed some trickle-down effect in economic activities. Hopefully, increased capital investment in new ventures will continue to spur a little growth in North America.

Ignoring Underemployment in America

2011-05-06T08:55:00.000-05:00

Occasionally, it appears the United States is not committed to a full economic recovery. Perhaps there are elements within our nation’s makeup that preclude its occasion. There are a number of systemic barriers which prevent the US from taking advantage of its entire workforce. The current unemployment figures, for instance, indicate that we’re doing better on this front. Employment figures are derived from government sources, typically. Also, unemployment figures do not reflect those out of work that have simply stopped looking for a job. America is becoming a world leader in dropouts.

Furthermore, these are somewhat lagging indicators. This is kind of a chicken versus egg issue to me. An argument could be made either way, but intuitively, an employer needs to generate business before taking on additional labor.

The opposite can play out, to be sure. A firm could elect to drive revenues from newly employed sources. This takes capital investment. So again, we’re in a circle here. I’m a very big fan of “The Economist.” It’s quite British, but there seems to be a greater ability to agree to disagree over issues of relevance across the pond. It’s the best periodical available for reasoned and practical analysis of world issues. As the world becomes increasingly interconnected (and at more rapid speeds), this magazine is essential to me in harnessing a greater understanding of the world around us.

I’ve said for a long time that consumer confidence was the only real microeconomic indicator that meant much of anything to me. I still believe it is the number one collective factor driving consumer purchasing decisions. Lack of confidence virtually always brings with it quite dire consequences to practical business and social activities. When a society operates out of fear, there are limiting effects on the progression of society as a whole.

This forum is not meant at all to be a social rant, and I don’t have the answers to much of anything, but there is a fantastic read in the latest Economist in part about America’s relentlessness in incarcerating young black men. It’s pretty hard for a society to operate in a highly efficient manner when the society spends an immense amount of resources cordoning off a large segment of the general population.

Immigration haters are entirely missing the point on this one. We have done very little as a country over the past 30 years to address the educational quality and underemployment of our current citizens, and the socio-economic reasons that fuel this vortex. We simply sweep the problem under the rug. Government can regain trust and consumer confidence by operating at a very low level of functionality these days. If a governmental agency can simply demonstrate the ability to do something right, they will get something of a nod of reward from its people.

When the bar has been lowered to the point where communities take a great measure of pride in the size and quality of its jail, perhaps the focus is a little skewed.

A Day Without Gribbles...

2011-05-05T20:21:00.000-05:00

It’s a little more challenging than I’d expected to find decent and widely available and accepted standards for measuring the effectiveness of wood products. It is relatively easy to find specific information on a subject, such as how individual species perform against each other in controlled metrics. A comprehensive view is more difficult, due to the wide arrays of properties demonstrated by lumber opposed to other building materials, such as concrete and steel.

Mathematical strength ratings are much more easily achieved with steel, for instance, because there is a highly predictable and consistent cellular nature of the raw materials. Wood grows in the ground. Funny things happen in the forest. Branches, though they seem to follow a more specific fractal nature than previously believed, sometimes arrive in unexpected places.

The samples of specific studies can expose localized weakness in selection materials, different studies necessarily have different moisture content—in short, the number of variables found in organic materials selected from vast geographic locations makes any study’s reliability a statement of the study itself.

I didn’t start the day thinking about gribbles.

I hope I can sleep tonight without man-sized gribbles taking me on…Good thing to live in a stone house, occasionally. These gribbles and their buddies the shipworms appear to give marine pilings serious structural issues. TRADA (TimberResearch and Development Association) is an UK outfit that considers matters such as dumping various underused species of wood in some harsh salt water, having the sea do some kick-started sandblasting on the samples, and seeing what might happen. The British, and some Americans, (don't buy into the plastic decking in that article. That is a non-biodegradable problem of its own creation) have been concerned with the overexploitation of Ekki and Greenheart, and are pursuing the consideration of a number of species for future commercial and common use.

Better managed and more responsible forestry is the counter to the rush for plastic building materials. Emerging markets aside, the world will be required to manage its resources responsibly. The market, over time, will see to this.

Pretty interesting results in this nine page download by John Williams PhD, for TRADA Technology found: here. Tali and Garapa held their own. For those concerned with specific methodology of the study, the TRADA download is available here: It’s an 160 page programme.

Why is the Rain Screen So Effective?

2011-05-04T07:44:00.000-05:00

The Pressure-equalized rain screen system is the best insurance policy available to designers, builders, and homeowners facing elemental extremes. This cladding design has been tested to the extent that Scandanavian buildings dating back over 500 years are still used. They must be doing something right.

Like every siding application, some maintenance over time will be required. The rain screen system provides a confidence in the future that other systems simply cannot match. By equal distribution of pressure throughout the building envelope, the screen and its associated spacing and venting bear the brunt of nature’s burden.

A very good, though somewhat technical explanation, is available here. A study performed by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) in association with the Ontario Association of Architects identifies the forces involved in envelope penetration and the effective means to combat that inevitability. With any wooden cladding system, deterioration over time is an issue. The rainscreen is an effective preventative measure available to the conscientious builder.

I've found another interesting write-up that differentiates rainscreen systems from the Metal Construction Association. It's not quite as in-depth as the CMHC issue, but it is a very good eleven-page pdf that defines specific differences between pressure-equalized systems and closed systems. It's pretty concise, and much less technical.

Rainscreen siding is green building at its finest. By selecting a wonderfully durable species such as Massaranduba, Garapa, or a domestic gem such as Cypress, your design or home will serve a much longer useful life than conventional construction. Less maintenance and a longer durable life make the rain screen envelope in premium lumber an investment worthy of desirable properties across the country.

The aesthetic value of siding your home in Brazilian Hardwood is striking. For homeowners seeking a measurable investment quality the value added in a tropical lumber home can be immense. Stone, conventional siding, and brick are everywhere. A home polished in Ipe is one to be remembered. The State of Oregon recently sought the longer-term green benefits of a separate water-permeable envelope by requiring it on new construction effective January 1, 2010. This won’t be the last outpost in the United States that will shift to this type of design in the future, as commodities will be unable to keep pace with the planet’s occupants quite as well…

If you're interested in coming trends, and green building developments, please check out some of the information linked above. At Specialty Lumber Solutions, we provide the Vanish ™ Rainscreen Clip. This system affords designers the ability to incorporate a hidden fastening system, eliminating the need for pre-drilling and plugging. Woods such as ipe are exceptionally hard, and I’ve been known to show up with a handful of bits just to get through a day on a drill job. As much as the drilling can be avoided, it should, and these clips do a fine job to snug the siding to battens. It’s a pretty slick application, I think.

A Real Dilemma for the Dollar

2011-05-03T20:54:00.000-05:00

There was an interesting article written by John Lyons in the weekend Wall Street Jornal about inflation in Brazil. It's worth a look for those with interest in the coming domestic pricing for products such as ipe. As the dollar continues its global and local slide, the opposite is true in South America's top economic power.

There's no shortage of spending in Brazil these days. Major infrastructure projects are well underway in preparation for the coming 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games The Brazilian Real climbed to 1.57 per US dollar last week, and the immediate future seems bright for our neighbors to the south. I'm not sure the Brazilians can even put a price tag on the expenditures for the next five years' events, but it's going to be quite a sum of a lot of US dollars.

Or Real. At the moment, I'd have to say the Brazilians are fairly well situated on the homefront. The question, for those in the exotic import markets, is what will this do to domestic pricing? In the short run, the dollar will continue to buy a little less and less overseas, which leads to the inevitable inflation at home.

Curious an American now has some concerns over foreign economic events. The domestic markets were so fired up during the first decade of this century that it may well take the US a decade to fully recover. There will be growth, to be sure, but have we Americans learned our lesson yet? The land bubble may yet arrive here. Farmland seems to be begging for a healthy burst soon. I think the farmers are better prepared at this point than the bankers...

Alternatives in Deck Tile Design

2011-05-02T12:10:00.000-05:00

There's a lot of rooftop in New York City. I've been told by my partner Charles Menifee that it's the most abundant property for development in Manhattan. This is probably the case--I've got no reason at all not to believe it. Elsewhere throughout the world the land crunch is tight in the biggest cities, and the people who live in urban settings are increasingly seeking to maximize the value of their available space.

One option is to create an outdoor setting on balconies and patios. Making the most of the available resources only makes sense in tight quarters, and a reasonable approach for property owners to take advantage of these as opportunities to further enhance their investment.

Deck tiles are a great option for the designer, builder, and owner. They are easily transported to the site, and the installation is a snap. At Specialty Lumber Solutions, we offer the Hanover(TM) leveling system to adjust for elevations between two inches and two feet, with an interlocking hidden fastening system at the corner of the tile. I can't think of a quicker system of putting together a new patio structure.

For those who prefer a grid design, there is another way. I've found a very good article from Deck Builder Magazine written by Ethan Ames that incorporates a wooden grid for a different look. It's just another alternative for builders and designers to supplement the ease of installation with a somewhat different look. I'd probably do it this way, but that's just my personal preference. It's worth a look.

Singapore: A Free Trade Case Study

2011-04-30T08:40:00.000-05:00

The city-state of Singapore has transformed itself from a backwater colonial outpost to a world leader in international trade and finance in just a half-century's time. How does something like this happen? The Economist has a great summary for those with any interest in Asia's financial markets here. For our purposes, let's look at what's happening with lumber and the associated products thereof.

The latest population figures for China come in at about 1.45 billion. India at about 1.2 billion. That's a lot of people, and people seem to acquire a few things made of wood over the course of their lives. How does this affect me in the United States? Well, the global trades of lumber products, pulp, manufactured goods, etc. are always going to be disproportionally skewed by activities in emerging markets. I'm focusing on the activities of these Asian markets because price and supply fluctuations 10,000 miles away most certainly have an impact on pricing at home.

The point to be made here is that tropical lumber products fall under a very wide swath of variation. If you've ever bought an $11 sheet of underlayment with a bamboo veneer from Home Depot that was manufactured in Vietnam, you've benefited from increased production in emerging markets. A cheap assemble-it-yourself table from Ikea made in the Philippines--same thing. The fact of the matter is that the industrialized countries simply cannot compete on an even playing field with manufactured goods on a global scale. We still have vast supplies of North American forest products available for domestic production and consumption, due to the fact that our timber reserves remain vast, and are increasingly managed responsibly.

What does this mean to the exotic lumber market? Despite the fact that the vast majority of tropical forests featuring the high-end decking materials such as Ipe, Cumaru, and Massaranduba are responsibly managed, it doesn't take much imagination to know where the irresponsible forestry is being practiced in the world. The same people who bark about how the rain forests are disappearing worldwide are quite powerless to address concerns in countries that share no such concern over responsible management and growth.

Singapore, with its duty-free port, has become a hub of raw materials and manufactured goods. I don't know if there is such a thing as "product laundering" to effectively wipe out the trace source of such goods, but if there is, it most certainly exists in this port. It appears to me that about half the lumber goods flowing through that port are sourced in countries that are signors to no international treaties advocating responsible forestry.

So, next time you're sharing some drinks at a friends' home, and he or she starts bemoaning the state of the world's rain forests, take a close look at their furniture. Ask if they know where the plywood was sourced to build their new green home. You might just surprise those who seem to be the most concerned.

China Lights Up The Dollar

2011-04-28T06:40:00.000-05:00

When researching the global supply and demand for lumber and lumber products, I was not surprised to note the dominant role that Chinese production and trading activities played on the global pricing and distribution structure. East Asia in general was a surprising market, however, and for reasons that were somewhat enlightening.

General information about global lumber supply and demand is difficult to come by. Oftentimes, the most current data I'm seeking is lagged by over a year. I'll admit I've not been tracking data for very long now, but the conclusions one can draw from basic analysis is eye-opening.

I would have been quite surprised, for example, to find that Vietnam is the world's leading exporter of Wooden Furniture and parts, and has been since 2006. It is no surprise that the United States is the leading importer of these products, and has been a worldwide leader for quite some time. The ITTO (International Tropical Timber Organization) has their 2009 Annual Report available here.

The localized Asian market is predictably dominated by Chinese activity on both the import and export end, but Japan and Malaysia are dominant players as well. Malaysia is a world leader in export activity, and Japanese imports of finished products are annually among the highest in East Asia. At Specialty Lumber Solutions, we deal predominately with South American imported lumbers, but the activity in Asia, due to its sheer volume, makes it important to note for future world supply and demand fluctuations.

As China attempts to cool its overheated economy (or not--love that central planning!), the rest of the world sits and waits. The Chinese are divesting in the US Dollar, and the global trade imbalances the US is already facing will become inflationary over time as the global markets react to trade activities. In the meantime, a weakened dollar is good news for our Canadian and Mexican neighbors, all the while pointing toward the inevitability of US inflation to reflect the weakened currency and higher commodity pricing across the board.

As current economic trends necessitate, I will attempt to provide a very basic analysis on a periodic basis concerning these and other trends. Comments are always welcome.

Specialty Lumber Solutions: The Beginnings

2011-04-27T21:52:00.000-05:00

Specialty Lumber Solutions had some pretty modest beginnings. Myself and my business partner-to-be Charles Menifee were working construction during the winter of 2006-7 in downtown Kansas City. The project was located at the Manhattan condominiums on Charlotte Street, and the penthouse called for preassembled ipe panels to be hung from the ceiling.

These panels were damned heavy. I was more than a bit skeptical about hanging these things over my head, but over time, some confidence was gained toward the application. The place had arclengths for wall space through the main hallway, and the panels contoured the walls...I'll have to kick up some pictures of that thing...Like I said, a modest start here.

Before long, Charles was running around to the local trade shows, and was making contacts with local suppliers that dealt in exotic lumber supplies. (Between finishing, assembling, and hanging these panels.) I had never worked that species of lumber prior to that job. I lived, as I still do, in Baldwin City, Kansas, some 45 miles southwest of KC. I just kept putting up the lumber...

And a few other jobs followed. Mostly decks. I'm pretty sure Thanksgiving Eve of 2007 featured me, Charles, and my brother Travis installing some decking. We rolled out about dinnertime. I think it got down to damned near zero that night. Memory is a tricky thing, but I certainly remember removing frost from the lumber under floodlights. And it was damned cold.

Thanksgiving morning, I got a flat tire on the way back to Olathe. That was a blast. It was awfully cold. A couple of Kansas State Troopers pulled over to watch me change the tire and curse under my breath. The home was adjacent to that of a local news and endorsement celebrity, but I didn't ask him for his seal of approval. I was late for Thanksgiving dinner...but it was still there once the thing got tied up.

I kept puttering around, building log cabins and such, and Charles would help out a bit here and there. But he had moved on to selling wood. Almost a couple of years ago now, he contacted me and told me he was striking out on his own. He's been selling wood ever since. Now, we're an LLC in the state of Missouri. I helped him out here and there for most of the past year, trying to keep the taxes filed, etc. etc. etc., and I've been giving this thing a "full-time run" ever since the start of this year. That's dishonest--Charles was all-in before I would catch up to the work he'd already done... But now, it looks like I'm committed to keeping this thing going full-speed.

So I write this blog. Actual content will follow--I promise. My initial thought is to provide periodic insight into the domestic lumber market, its newest products and supplies, and hopefully get valuable feedback from our customers and future clients. I don't claim to have all the answers about anything, but I'll sure look into something if it might be relevant to the domestic exotic lumber industry.