Tropical wood · Tropical America
Demerara Greenheart wood
Demerara Greenheart (Ocotea rodiaei, family Lauraceae) is a tropical timber from tropical America. Dry, its Janka hardness is 2,360 lbf (10,498 N), and air-dry it weighs about 62–70 lb/ft³ (993–1,121 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 213–214.
Other names, by country: Bibiru, Sipiri, Kevatuk (Guyana), Beeberoe, Demerara groenhart, Sipiroe (Surinam).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 2,360 lbf (10,498 N)
- Green: 1,880 lbf (8,363 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 1,880 lb for green material and 2,360 lb at 12% moisture content.”
- Air-dry density
- 62–70 lb/ft³ (993–1,121 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.80–0.91 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.80 to 0.91; air-dry density 62 to 70 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 9.6% tangential
- Radial 8.8%, volumetric 17.1%
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 4 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 | 20,300 psi (140 MPa) | 2.31 million psi (15.9 GPa) | 9,770 psi (67 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 26,200 psi (181 MPa) | 3.04 million psi (21 GPa) | 13,040 psi (90 MPa) |
| Green | 20,900 psi (144 MPa) | 3.04 million psi (21 GPa) | 10,690 psi (74 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 25,500 psi (176 MPa) | 3.7 million psi (25.5 GPa) | 13,040 psi (90 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood varies from light to dark olive-green or blackish, often with intermingling of lighter and darker areas; not sharply defined from the pale yellow or greenish sapwood. Texture fine and uniform; grain straight to roey; lustrous; odorless and tasteless when dry.
- Working properties
- Moderately difficult to work with hand or machine tools because of its density, dulls cutting edges rather quickly but finishes to a fine smooth lustrous surface. Turns easily and takes a high polish. A moderately good steam-bending wood. Gluing gives variable results.
- Durability
- The heartwood is rated highly resistant to attack by decay fungi and is also rated as highly resistant to attack by marine borers but this may vary from one locality to another, particularly in brackish waters. Highly resistant to attack by dry-wood termites.
- Uses
- Marine and ship construction, lock gates, docks, industrial flooring, vats, filter press plates, piling, heavy construction, turnery, specialty items (fishing rods, billiard cue butts).
- Where it grows
- Commercial quantities mostly in the north central portion of Guyana but also found in Surinam and in the Venezuelan Guiana. It has also been reported from the Maroni Region of western French Guiana and from northern Brazil.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 213–214, a USDA Forest Products Laboratory work in the public domain.
Work it out for your project
- Rank woods for flooring with the species picker
Weigh demerara Greenheart against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.