Know Your Wood: Cumaru

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

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?

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.