Tropical wood · Tropical America
Amendoim wood
Amendoim (Pterogyne nitens, family Leguminosae) is a tropical timber from tropical America. Green, its Janka hardness is 1,340 lbf (5,961 N), and air-dry it weighs about 50 lb/ft³ (801 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 261–262.
Other names, by country: Amendoim, Ibiráro, Pau fava (Brazil), Guiáro, Ibiraró, Viraró (Argentina).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- Not printed
- Green: 1,340 lbf (5,961 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness for green material 1,340 lb.”
- Air-dry density
- 50 lb/ft³ (801 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.66 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.66; air-dry density 50 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 6.0% tangential
- Radial 3.4%, volumetric 10.0%
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 one data set, each at the moisture content printed beside it, never restated as 12%.
| Moisture | Bending strength (MOR) | Stiffness (MOE) | Crushing strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15% MC | 16,900 psi (117 MPa) | — | 7,660 psi (53 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood. reddish-brown suggesting mahogany often with darker striping; not sharply demarcated from the yellowish-brown sapwood. Luster medium to high; texture medium; grain often roey; without distinctive odor or taste.
- Working properties
- Rather easily worked and finishing very smoothly.
- Durability
- Reported to be fairly durable.
- Uses
- Fine furniture and cabinet work, turnery, interior trim, cooperage, and steam-bent work.
- Where it grows
- Argentina, southern Paraguay, and Brazil; scattered occurrence.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 261–262, 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 amendoim against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.