Tropical wood · Tropical America
Cedro-rana wood
Cedro-rana (Cedrelinga catenaeformis, family Leguminosae) is a tropical timber from tropical America. Air-dry, it weighs about 40–31 lb/ft³ (641–497 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 83–84.
Other names, by country: Tornillo (Peru), Iacaica, Paricá, Yacayacá (Brazil).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- Not printed
- Air-dry density
- 40–31 lb/ft³ (641–497 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.41–0.53 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) reported to be about 0.53 for material collected in Brazil and 0.41 for Peruvian stock. Air-dry density respectively 40 and 31 pcf.”
- Shrinkage
- Not as one figure
- As printed: “Volumetric shrinkage (green to ovendry): 11.8%.”
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 one data set, each at the moisture content printed beside it, never restated as 12%.
| Moisture | Bending strength (MOR) | Stiffness (MOE) | Crushing strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green | 7,600 psi (52 MPa) | 1.38 million psi (9.5 GPa) | 3,610 psi (25 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood pale brown with a golden luster; prominently marked with dark red vessel lines; merging gradually into the lighter-colored sapwood. Texture coarse; roe grained; odor and taste absent in dry specimens, but fresh-cut timber is reported to emit a disagreeable scent when worked.
- Working properties
- Saws wooly but is easy to cut; can be finished smoothly.
- Durability
- Reported to be probably fairly durable; also reported to have good weathering resistance.
- Uses
- General construction, furniture components.
- Where it grows
- Reported in the Loreto and Huanuco Provinces of Peru; encountered most frequently on slopes or hillsides and in the humid "terra firma" of the Brazilian Amazon region.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 83–84, 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 cedro-rana against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.