Tropical wood · Tropical America
Burada wood
Burada (Parinari spp., family Chrysobalanaceae) is a tropical timber from tropical America. Dry, its Janka hardness is 1,830 lbf (8,140 N), and air-dry it weighs about 50–55 lb/ft³ (801–881 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 223–224.
Other names, by country: Perefuetano (Colombia), Tostado (Venezuela), Aiomoradan, Burada (Guyana), Foengoe, Vonkhout (Surinam), Parinari, Pajurá (Brazil), Uchpa-umari (Peru).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 1,830 lbf (8,140 N)
- Green: 1,270 lbf (5,649 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 1,270 lb for green wood and 1,830 lb at 12% moisture content.”
- Air-dry density
- 50–55 lb/ft³ (801–881 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.64–0.72 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) varying with species 0.64 to 0.72; air-dry density 50 to 55 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 10.0% tangential
- Radial 5.9%, volumetric 14.6%
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 | 12,750 psi (88 MPa) | 2.12 million psi (14.6 GPa) | 5,800 psi (40 MPa) |
| Green | 14,760 psi (102 MPa) | 2.66 million psi (18.3 GPa) | 6,780 psi (47 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 21,740 psi (150 MPa) | 2.93 million psi (20.2 GPa) | 11,960 psi (82 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 19,600 psi (135 MPa) | 2.48 million psi (17.1 GPa) | 9,850 psi (68 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood gray-brown, yellow-brown, or yellowish pink-brown; when freshly cut often a deep orange-brown. Sapwood somewhat lighter colored and not clearly defined. Grain generally straight, sometimes inter-locked; scattered pores coarse, otherwise texture is fine; luster mostly low; without distinctive odor or taste. Silica content up to about 2.0% is reported.
- Working properties
- Because of high silica content and high density the woods are difficult to machine; cutters are dulled rapidly. However, smooth surfaces are obtained in all operations with proper maintenance of tools.
- Durability
- Laboratory pure culture evaluations generally show moderate durability in resistance to white-rot and brown-rot fungi. Field exposure tests, however, indicate high susceptibility to decay. Resistant to attack by marine borers.
- Uses
- Marine construction; especially when continuously submerged to avoid decay fungi, ship keels, railroad crossties (treated).
- Where it grows
- The Guianas and the lower Amazon region of Brazil, but also in other areas of northern South America.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 223–224, a USDA Forest Products Laboratory work in the public domain.
Work it out for your project
- Rank woods for ground contact with the species picker
Weigh burada against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.