Tropical wood · Tropical America
Alerce wood
Alerce (Fitzroya cupressoides, family Cupressaceae) is a tropical timber from tropical America. Dry, its Janka hardness is 560 lbf (2,491 N), and air-dry it weighs about 30 lb/ft³ (481 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 145–146.
Other names, by country: Lahuán (Chile).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 560 lbf (2,491 N)
- Green: 430 lbf (1,913 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 430 lb for green material and 560 lb at 12% moisture content.”
- Air-dry density
- 30 lb/ft³ (481 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.38 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.38; air-dry density 30 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 5.8% tangential
- Radial 3.8%, volumetric 9.1%
One source: USDA Forest Products Laboratory, Tropical Timbers of the World (Chudnoff, 1979 edition), the only published source read for this wood
Strength
Bending strength is the modulus of rupture (MOR); stiffness is the modulus of elasticity (MOE); crushing strength is compression parallel to the grain. The sheet collects these from published tests: it prints 2 data sets, from different tests and sources, so they can differ widely; all are shown, in the sheet's order, each at the moisture content printed beside it, never restated as 12%.
| Moisture | Bending strength (MOR) | Stiffness (MOE) | Crushing strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green | 6,000 psi (41 MPa) | 0.94 million psi (6.5 GPa) | 2,690 psi (19 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 8,700 psi (60 MPa) | 1.16 million psi (8 GPa) | 5,150 psi (36 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Working properties
- The timber works easily in all hand and machine operations; cutters must be kept sharp to get a smooth finish on end grain; easy to glue and finish. The wood is easily split to produce shakes.
- Durability
- Laboratory soil-block tests indicate resistance to attack by white-rot and brown-rot fungi. The wood has a local reputation for high durability.
- Uses
- Shakes and shingles, general construction, pencil slats, musical instruments, vats and tanks, lumber cores, and furniture components.
- Where it grows
- Occurs in the central part of Chile and in the Providence of Chubut in southern Argentina. Typically on marshy ground but also at higher elevations on Isla de Chiloé and in Patagonia; forms dense, nearly pure forests.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 145–146, a USDA Forest Products Laboratory work in the public domain.
Work it out for your project
- Rank woods for furniture with the species picker
Weigh alerce against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.