Tropical wood · Tropical America
Basralocus wood
Basralocus (Dicorynia guianensis, family Leguminosae) is a tropical timber from tropical America. Dry, its Janka hardness is 1,290 lbf (5,738 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. 125–126.
Other names, by country: Basralokus, Barakaroeballi (Surinam), Angélique bátárd, Angélique gris (French Guiana). Another species, Dicorynia paraensis, is found in the Brazilian Amazon and is called Angelica do Pará.
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 1,290 lbf (5,738 N)
- Green: 1,100 lbf (4,893 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 1,100 lb for green material and 1,290 lb at 12% moisture content.”
- Air-dry density
- 50 lb/ft³ (801 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.65 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.65; air-dry density 50 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 8.2% tangential
- Radial 4.6%, volumetric 14.0%
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 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 | 11,410 psi (79 MPa) | 1.84 million psi (12.7 GPa) | 5,590 psi (39 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 17,390 psi (120 MPa) | 2.19 million psi (15.1 GPa) | 8,770 psi (60 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-gray to reddishor yellowish-brown sharply demarcated from narrow brownish-white sapwood. Texture medium; unusual subsurface luster; grain usually straight, sometimes somewhat interlocked; no distinctive odor or taste. Vessels are prominent as long brown lines on side grain producing an attractive figure. Silica content reported 0.20 to 1.70% and as high as 2.92%.
- Working properties
- Working properties vary according to density and silica content but generally works well and finishes smoothly. Specially tipped cutters are suggested particularly for dried wood. Glues well.
- Durability
- Heartwood is resistant to very resistant to attack by decay fungi but is somewhat susceptible to dry-wood termites. The wood is resistant to attack by marine borers.
- Uses
- Marine construction and general heavy construction, railroad crossties, industrial flooring, ship decking, planking, and framing, piling, parquet blocks and strips.
- Where it grows
- Abundant in eastern Surinam and western French Guiana where it may make up 10% of the forest stands. Best growth on deep, loamy, welldrained soils of lowland plains but also found in wet areas.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 125–126, a USDA Forest Products Laboratory work in the public domain.
Work it out for your project
- Rank woods for flooring with the species picker
Weigh basralocus against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.