Tropical wood · Tropical America
Baromalli wood
Baromalli (Catostemma spp., family Bombacaceae) is a tropical timber from tropical America. Dry, its Janka hardness is 720 lbf (3,203 N), and air-dry it weighs about 36–46 lb/ft³ (577–737 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 77–78.
Other names, by country: Arenillo (Colombia), Baramanni, Baramalli (Guayana), Flambeau rouge (French Guiana), Baraman (Venezuela), Kajoewaballi (Surinam).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 720 lbf (3,203 N)
- Green: 520 lbf (2,313 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 520 lb for green and 720 lb for air-dry material with basic specific gravity of 0.50.”
- Air-dry density
- 36–46 lb/ft³ (577–737 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.50–0.60 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.50 to 0.60; air-dry density 36 to 46 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 11.1% tangential
- Radial 5.2%, volumetric 17.5%
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 | 8,100 psi (56 MPa) | 1.61 million psi (11.1 GPa) | 3,840 psi (26 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 11,200 psi (77 MPa) | 1.82 million psi (12.5 GPa) | 6,730 psi (46 MPa) |
| Green | 10,670 psi (74 MPa) | 2.3 million psi (15.9 GPa) | 4,280 psi (30 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 15,450 psi (107 MPa) | 2.88 million psi (19.9 GPa) | 8,340 psi (58 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood dull yellowishto pinkish-brown, distinct but not sharply demarcated from the yellowish-brown sapwood. Grain is straight to slightly interlocked; texture coarse; luster low; without distinctive odor or taste. Quartersawed surfaces show a distinctive "silver-grain" figure.
- Working properties
- Rated as fair to poor in most machining operations but also reported to work easily with machine and hand tools. Machine-finished surfaces lack luster and are harsh to the touch. Takes glue well and can be nailed without splitting. Easy to cut into veneer.
- Durability
- Heartwood vulnerable to decay fungi and is rated as very susceptible to attack by dry-wood termites. Sapwood also susceptible to attack by powder-post beetles.
- Uses
- General construction work where dimensional stability is not critical, fiberboard, particleboard, plywood, box shook, and cooperage.
- Where it grows
- Carare-Opón and Serrania de San Lucas regions of Colombia; the Guianas, and in the low inundated forests near Manaus and northward in Brazil.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 77–78, a USDA Forest Products Laboratory work in the public domain.
Work it out for your project
- Rank woods for your project with the species picker
Weigh baromalli against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.