Tropical wood · Tropical America
Carne D'anta wood
Carne D'anta (Maytenus spp., family Celastraceae) is a tropical timber from tropical America. Dry, its Janka hardness is 2,240 lbf (9,964 N), and air-dry it weighs about 49–59 lb/ft³ (785–945 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 199–200.
Other names, by country: Aguabola, Limncillo (Mexico), Arizá, Camarón (Colombia), Cucharo (Venezuela), Carne d'anta, Apiranga, Chuchasca, Pau de colher (Brazil), Maitén, Naranjillo (Argentina).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 2,240 lbf (9,964 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 2,240 lb at 12% moisture content.”
- Air-dry density
- 49–59 lb/ft³ (785–945 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.64–0.77 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) varying with species from 0.64 to 0.77; air-dry density 49 to 59 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 8.9% tangential
- Radial 4.6%
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 one data set, each at the moisture content printed beside it, never restated as 12%.
| Moisture | Bending strength (MOR) | Stiffness (MOE) | Crushing strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12% MC | 18,200 psi (125 MPa) | 2.41 million psi (16.6 GPa) | 11,100 psi (77 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood light reddish-brown; sapwood whitish. Texture very fine and uniform; luster low to medium; grain interlocked to irregular; without distinctive odor or taste.
- Working properties
- Reported to have satisfactory working qualities, particularly suited for turnery.
- Durability
- Susceptible to attack by decay fungi.
- Uses
- General carpentry and construction, turnery, furniture, and cabinet work.
- Where it grows
- Well distributed throughout tropical America, occurs scattered in the coastal forests of the Bahia region of Brazil; also well known in the Patagonian forests of Rio Negro, Argentina.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 199–200, 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 carne D'anta against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.