Tropical wood · Tropical America
Cupressus lusitanica wood
Cupressus lusitanica (Cupressus lusitanica, family Cupressaceae) is a tropical timber from tropical America. Dry, its Janka hardness is 460 lbf (2,046 N), and air-dry it weighs about 32 lb/ft³ (513 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 105–106.
Other names, by country: Ciprés (Latin America). MEXICAN CYPRESS
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 460 lbf (2,046 N)
- Green: 340 lbf (1,512 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 340 lb for green material and 460 lb at 12% moisture content.”
- Air-dry density
- 32 lb/ft³ (513 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.43 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.43; air-dry density 32 pcf.”
- Shrinkage
- Not as one figure
- As printed: “Shrinkage green to ovendry: volumetric 8.0%.”
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12% MC | 12,400 psi (85 MPa) | 1.39 million psi (9.6 GPa) | 5,820 psi (40 MPa) |
| Green | 6,160 psi (42 MPa) | 0.93 million psi (6.4 GPa) | 2,880 psi (20 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 10,270 psi (71 MPa) | 1.02 million psi (7 GPa) | 5,380 psi (37 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood yellowish, pale brown, or pinkish, sometimes streaked or variegated; sapwood paler, usually sharply demarcated. Grain straight to irregular; texture fine and uniform; luster rather high; fragrantly scented.
- Working properties
- The wood is easy to work with hand and machine tools, easy to nail, and stains and polishes well.
- Durability
- Reports on durability are conflicting.
- Uses
- Posts and poles, furniture components, and general construction.
- Where it grows
- Native to Mexico and probably Guatemala but now widely planted at high elevations throughout the tropical world.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 105–106, 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 cupressus lusitanica against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.