Tropical wood · Tropical America
Haiari wood
Haiari (Alexa imperatricis, family Leguminosae) is a tropical timber from tropical America. 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. 17–18.
Other names, by country: Haiariballi (Guyana).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- No moisture content printed
- As printed: “Janka side hardness is 690 lb and the Forest Products Laboratory toughness is 118 in.-lb (5/8-in. specimen).”
- Air-dry density
- 32 lb/ft³ (513 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.41–0.55 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) reported to be 0.46 to 0.55 in Guyana; 0.41 in the Venezuelan Guiana. Air-dry density about 32 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 8.5% tangential
- Radial 4.0%, volumetric 11.7%
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 one data set, each at the moisture content printed beside it, never restated as 12%.
| Moisture | Bending strength (MOR) | Stiffness (MOE) | Crushing strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12% MC | 10,590 psi (73 MPa) | 1.58 million psi (10.9 GPa) | 5,620 psi (39 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood brownish yellow but occasionally somewhat darker; not sharply differentiated from the light yellow to grayish yellow sapwood, 3 to 4 in. wide. Luster is medium to low; generally straight grained; rather coarse textured; odorless and tasteless when dry.
- Working properties
- Haiari is reported to work easily and finish satisfactorily. Nail withdrawal resistance is higher than would be expected from its density. Rotary cutting trials of 1/16-in, veneer gave smooth surfaces and uniform thickness; rough cutting occurred in 1/8-in. veneer. Reported to have rather unfavorable gluing properties when made into plywood.
- Durability
- Reported to be highly resistant to decay, but freshly cut logs are very susceptible to damage by pinhole borers.
- Uses
- Haiari is suitable for interior construction, boxes, crating, general construction, plywood, and other uses requiring an easily worked wood of moderate strength.
- Where it grows
- Found in the Venezuelan Guiana, Guyana, Surinan, and the Brazilian Amazon region. Often dominant on the light-colored sands of the northwest and upper Mozaruni district and the Pakaraima Mountains in Guyana.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 17–18, 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 haiari against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.