Tropical wood · Southeast Asia and Oceania
Darah Darah wood
Darah Darah (Myristica spp., family Myristicaceae) is a tropical timber from Southeast Asia and Oceania. Dry, its Janka hardness is 1,020 lbf (4,537 N), and air-dry it weighs about 35–45 lb/ft³ (561–721 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 691–692.
Other names, by country: Kaudamu (Fiji Islands), Penarahan (Malaya), Kumpang (Sarawak), Duguan, Tambolau (Philippines), Mutwinda (Burma).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 1,020 lbf (4,537 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness about 1,020 lb for dry material.”
- Air-dry density
- 35–45 lb/ft³ (561–721 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.45–0.60 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) varies with species 0.45-0.60; air-dry density ranges from 35 to 45 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 6.9% tangential
- Radial 4.6%, volumetric 12.4%
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 2 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 | — | — | 5,100 psi (35 MPa) |
| 16% MC | — | — | 6,329 psi (44 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood light reddish-brown, dull brown, or brownishor olive-gray; sapwood lighter in color, poorly differentiated. Texture rather fine to slightly coarse; grain straight; somewhat lustrous; without characteristic odor or taste.
- Working properties
- The timbers are easy to work with hand and machine tools; dresses rather smoothly; tends to split on nailing.
- Durability
- Heartwood is vulnerable to attack by decay fungi and termites. Sapwood liable to powder-post beetle attack.
- Uses
- Light framing, joinery, furniture components, general carpentry work. 2. Desch, H. E. 1941-1954. Manual of Malayan timbers. Malayan For. Rec. 15. 2 vol.
- Where it grows
- Indo-Malayan region, Indonesia, Philippines, and Western Pacific Islands. M. fragrans is cultivated for its seed kernels (nutmegs of commerce).
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 691–692, 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 darah Darah against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.