Tropical wood · Tropical America
Canelo wood
Canelo (Nectandra spp., family Lauraceae) is a tropical timber from tropical America. Dry, its Janka hardness is 1,060 lbf (4,715 N), and air-dry it weighs about 32–46 lb/ft³ (513–737 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 207–208.
Other names, by country: Aguacatillo (Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica), Laurel (Colombia, Venezuela), Silverballi (Guyana), Pisi (Surinam), Canela (Brazil), Ayui-y, Laurel (Argentina). A large number of species make up this group.
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 1,060 lbf (4,715 N)
- Green: 930 lbf (4,137 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 930 lb for green material and 1,060 lb at 12% moisture content.”
- Air-dry density
- 32–46 lb/ft³ (513–737 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.43–0.61 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) varying with species, mostly 0.43 to 0.61; air-dry density 32 to 46 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 6.0% tangential
- Radial 3.4%, volumetric 9.8%
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 6 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 | 10,440 psi (72 MPa) | 1.54 million psi (10.6 GPa) | 5,020 psi (35 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 14,230 psi (98 MPa) | 1.65 million psi (11.4 GPa) | 7,260 psi (50 MPa) |
| Green | 12,800 psi (88 MPa) | 1.9 million psi (13.1 GPa) | 5,330 psi (37 MPa) |
| 15% MC | 17,100 psi (118 MPa) | — | 8,500 psi (59 MPa) |
| Green | 10,900 psi (75 MPa) | 1.37 million psi (9.4 GPa) | 4,870 psi (34 MPa) |
| 15% MC | 12,400 psi (85 MPa) | — | 6,620 psi (46 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood brownish-yellow with a green cast or olive to light olive-brown and in some species becoming blackish-brown; transition to whitish or brownish sapwood often gradual. Texture mostly medium to rather coarse; luster usually satiny or silky; grain straight to roey; odor spicy, taste mild to pronounced.
- Working properties
- The wood has excellent working properties with either machine or hand tools, dresses to a smooth finish. Glues and paints well.
- Durability
- May vary with species, generally rated durable in resistance to attack by decay fungi but rather susceptible to attack by dry-wood termites.
- Uses
- Furniture and cabinet work, ship decking and boat planking, flooring, millwork, veneers and plywood, and general carpentry.
- Where it grows
- Widely distributed throughout tropical America.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 207–208, 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 canelo against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.