Tropical wood · Tropical America
Cuangare wood
Cuangare (Dialyanthera spp., family Myristicaceae) is a tropical timber from tropical America. Dry, its Janka hardness is 375 lbf (1,668 N), and air-dry it weighs about 28 lb/ft³ (449 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 123–124.
Other names, by country: Fruta dorado (Costa Rica), Miguelario (Panama), Otoba (Venezuela), Cuangare (Colombia), Coco (Ecuador).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 375 lbf (1,668 N)
- Green: 235 lbf (1,045 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 235 lb for green material and 375 lb at 12% moisture content.”
- Air-dry density
- 28 lb/ft³ (449 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.36 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.36; air-dry density 28 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 9.4% tangential
- Radial 4.2%, volumetric 12.0%
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 3 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 | 4,020 psi (28 MPa) | 1.01 million psi (7 GPa) | 2,080 psi (14 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 7,300 psi (50 MPa) | 1.52 million psi (10.5 GPa) | 4,760 psi (33 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 10,400 psi (72 MPa) | 1.9 million psi (13.1 GPa) | — |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- There is no demarcation between sapwood and heartwood, pale pinkish-brown. Luster medium to high; grain generally straight; texture variable; without odor or taste.
- Working properties
- Generally machines well if sharp knives are used and dressed with the grain. Easy to nail and glue; takes stain, paint, and clear finishes well.
- Durability
- Heartwood is nondurable and is susceptible to insect attack. Wood is prone to blue stain and requires rapid extraction and conversion.
- Uses
- Core stock, moldings, paneling, particleboard, general carpentry, and furniture components.
- Where it grows
- Main commercial supply from the species growing in almost pure stands in the Pacific coastal fresh water swamp forests of Colombia and Ecuador. Other species in upland forests of Costa Rica, Panama, and Venezuela.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 123–124, 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 cuangare against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.