Tropical wood · Southeast Asia and Oceania
Kekatong wood
Kekatong (Cynometra spp., family Leguminosae) is a tropical timber from Southeast Asia and Oceania. Dry, its Janka hardness is 2,340 lbf (10,409 N), and air-dry it weighs about 60 lb/ft³ (961 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 603–604.
Other names, by country: Myinga (Burma), Katong (Sabah), Mang-kha (Thailand), Oriñgen (Philippines), Kekatong, Belangkan (Malaya), Moivi (Fiji Islands).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 2,340 lbf (10,409 N)
- Green: 1,950 lbf (8,674 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 1,950 lb for green material and 2,340 lb for dry.”
- Air-dry density
- 60 lb/ft³ (961 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.80 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.80; air-dry density 60 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to air-dry
- 8.0% tangential
- Radial 3.0%
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 | 13,585 psi (94 MPa) | 1.88 million psi (13 GPa) | 6,635 psi (46 MPa) |
| 11% MC | 18,275 psi (126 MPa) | 2.33 million psi (16.1 GPa) | 9,585 psi (66 MPa) |
| 17% MC | 19,610 psi (135 MPa) | 2.73 million psi (18.8 GPa) | 9,820 psi (68 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood claret-red, pinkish-brown, to red-brown, attractively streaked, and a brown-black core in Malayan material; sapwood lighter in color but not clearly defined. Grain straight or somewhat irregular; texture fine to medium; luster variable; without distinctive odor or taste.
- Working properties
- Rather difficult to saw but cuts easily with hardened teeth, dresses smoothly, and finishes well.
- Durability
- Heartwood is vulnerable to attack by decay fungi and sapwood prone to powder-post beetles.
- Uses
- Interior construction work, railroad crossties (treated).
- Where it grows
- Through the Indo-Malayan region to the Philippines, Australia, and the Pacific Islands.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 603–604, a USDA Forest Products Laboratory work in the public domain.
Work it out for your project
- Rank woods for cabinets and trim with the species picker
Weigh kekatong against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.