Tropical wood · Tropical America
Baracara wood
Baracara (Ormosia spp., family Leguminosae) is a tropical timber from tropical America. Dry, its Janka hardness is 1,000–1,570 lbf (4,448–6,984 N), and air-dry it weighs about 37–52 lb/ft³ (593–833 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 217–218.
Other names, by country: Palo de matos (Puerto Rico), Amargo blanco (Panama), Chocho (Colombia), Peonio (Venezuela), Mekoe (Surinam), Tento, Jatobáhy do igapó (Brazil).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 1,000–1,570 lbf (4,448–6,984 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 1,000 lb to 1,570 lb for dry material.”
- Air-dry density
- 37–52 lb/ft³ (593–833 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.50–0.68 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) varying with species from 0.50 to 0.68; air-dry density 37 to 52 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 7.4% tangential
- Radial 3.6%, volumetric 12.0%
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 4 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 | 13,510 psi (93 MPa) | 2.06 million psi (14.2 GPa) | 6,520 psi (45 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 17,860 psi (123 MPa) | 2.34 million psi (16.1 GPa) | 9,780 psi (67 MPa) |
| 15% MC | 13,800 psi (95 MPa) | 1.72 million psi (11.9 GPa) | 6,830 psi (47 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 14,200 psi (98 MPa) | 2.23 million psi (15.4 GPa) | 8,050 psi (56 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood pinkish to reddish, mostly salmon-colored, sometimes yellowish-brown, more or less streaked; not always distinct from the yellowish sapwood. Texture coarse to very coarse; luster usually medium; grain mostly irregular; feels harsh; without distinctive odor or taste.
- Working properties
- For most species, reported to saw and machine easily with fair to good results; surfaces, however, are somewhat rough and difficult to finish.
- Durability
- Generally reported to be quite susceptible to attack by decay fungi; vulnerable to dry-wood termites; and prone to powder-post beetle attack (sapwood).
- Uses
- Furniture components, interior construction, general carpentry, and utility veneer.
- Where it grows
- Most of the species are Amazonian but with extensions southward to São Paulo and northward to the West Indies, Central America, and southern Mexico.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 217–218, 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 baracara against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.