Tropical wood · Tropical America
Caviuna wood
Caviuna (Machaerium spp., family Leguminosae) is a tropical timber from tropical America. Green, its Janka hardness is 1,450–1,780 lbf (6,450–7,918 N), and air-dry it weighs about 49–57 lb/ft³ (785–913 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 193–194.
Other names, by country: Capote, Siete cueros (Colombia), Cascarón (Venezuela), Chiche (Ecuador), Tuseque, Morado (Bolivia), Jacarandá, Jacarandá pardo (Brazil).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- Not printed
- Green: 1,450–1,780 lbf (6,450–7,918 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness for green material 1,450 to 1,780 lb.”
- Air-dry density
- 49–57 lb/ft³ (785–913 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.65–0.75 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.65 to 0.75; air-dry density 49 to 57 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 6.6% tangential
- Radial 2.6%, volumetric 10.0%
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 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 | 14,200 psi (98 MPa) | 1.58 million psi (10.9 GPa) | 5,670 psi (39 MPa) |
| 15% MC | 17,000 psi (117 MPa) | — | 3,000 psi (21 MPa) |
| Green | 14,000 psi (97 MPa) | 1.24 million psi (8.5 GPa) | 5,550 psi (38 MPa) |
| 15% MC | 17,500 psi (121 MPa) | — | 8,300 psi (57 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood brown to dark violet-brown, often streaked, rather waxy; sapwood whitish, grayish, or yellowish. Luster medium to high; texture fine to coarse; grain straight to irregular; without distinctive taste but sometimes walnut scented. Wood dust may cause dermatitis.
- Working properties
- Reported to be fair to excellent.
- Durability
- Heartwood highly resistant to attack by decay fungi.
- Uses
- Fine furniture, decorative veneers, turnery, specialty items, and cabinet work. Generally useful for the same purposes as Brazilian rosewood (Dalbergia nigra).
- Where it grows
- The species of this group are widely distributed throughout tropical America but are most abundant in Brazil, with commercial sources in the southeast.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 193–194, 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 caviuna against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.