Tropical wood · Tropical America
Copaiba wood
Copaiba (Copaifera spp., family Leguminosae) is a tropical timber from tropical America. Dry, its Janka hardness is 1,740 lbf (7,740 N). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 95–96.
Other names, by country: Copaiba (generally in Latin America), Camiba, Cabino blanco (Panama), Cabimo, Palo de aceite (Venezuela), Canime, Copaiba (Colombia), Copaibarana, Copahyba (Brazil), Cupay (Paraguay), Timbó-y-atá (Argentina).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 1,740 lbf (7,740 N)
- Green: 1,390 lbf (6,183 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 1,390 lb for green material, 1,740 lb at 12% moisture content.”
- Air-dry density
- Not printed
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.46–0.64 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) varies with species from 0.46 to 0.64; airdry density 34 to 49 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 9.2% tangential
- Radial 4.4%, 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 5 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 | 12,980 psi (89 MPa) | 2.27 million psi (15.7 GPa) | 6,070 psi (42 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 21,200 psi (146 MPa) | 2.65 million psi (18.3 GPa) | 10,700 psi (74 MPa) |
| Green | 8,580 psi (59 MPa) | 1.35 million psi (9.3 GPa) | 3,900 psi (27 MPa) |
| 15% MC | 11,300 psi (78 MPa) | — | 5,980 psi (41 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 12,900 psi (89 MPa) | — | 6,500 psi (45 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood reddish-brown, variable often with a coppery hue, and sometimes streaked; not very sharply demarcated from the pinkish-gray or nearly white sapwood. Luster rather silky and golden; grain usually straight; texture medium; oily exudations sometimes present, the woods of all species contain gum or oil canals. Dry material without distinctive odor or taste.
- Working properties
- The wood is easy to work and finishes very smoothly; a small amount of material showed fuzzy grain after planing.
- Durability
- C. officinalis is reported to be vulnerable to attack by decay fungi, insects, and drywood termites. C. aromatica and other species are reported to be highly durable.
- Uses
- Carpentry, general construction, interior trim, furniture, turnery, suggested for particleboard and excelsior cement board. Trees are highly valued for its gum or balsam.
- Where it grows
- Varies with species and ranges from Panama southward to Argentina and Paraguay. C. reticulata has wide distribution in the Amazon region and is the source of copaiba balsam.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 95–96, 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 copaiba against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.