Tropical wood · Tropical America
Long John wood
Long John (Triplaris spp., family Polygonaceae) is a tropical timber from tropical America. Dry, its Janka hardness is 1,040–1,820 lbf (4,626–8,096 N), and air-dry it weighs about 38–48 lb/ft³ (609–769 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 303–304.
Other names, by country: Palo mulato (Mexico), Hormigo (Costa Rica), Palo hormiguero (Panama), Palo santo (Colombia), Vara de maria (Venezuela), Mierenhout (Surinam), Long John (Guyana), Tangarana (Peru), Formigueira (Brazil).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 1,040–1,820 lbf (4,626–8,096 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness at 12% moisture content 1,040 to 1,820 lb.”
- Air-dry density
- 38–48 lb/ft³ (609–769 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.50–0.62 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) varies with species from 0.50 to 0.62; air-dry density 38 to 48 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 8.6% tangential
- Radial 3.5%, volumetric 12.3%
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15% MC | 13,230 psi (91 MPa) | 1.88 million psi (13 GPa) | 7,040 psi (49 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 15,000 psi (103 MPa) | 2.02 million psi (13.9 GPa) | 8,000 psi (55 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 18,300 psi (126 MPa) | — | 8,100 psi (56 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Sapwood. not distinct from heartwood which is a pale gray-brown to pinkish-brown. Luster medium; texture medium to moderately coarse; grain straight or slightly interlocked; without distinctive odor or taste.
- Working properties
- Machines well in all operations, but rated only fair in turning.
- Durability
- Not resistant to attack by decay fungi and vulnerable to dry-wood termites.
- Uses
- Furniture components, boxes and crates, interior construction, fiberboard and particleboard, joinery.
- Where it grows
- Southern Mexico, through Central America, and tropical South America. In Surinam the tree is dominant in swamps and frequent on low riverbanks. Sometimes forming almost pure stands on abandoned clearings.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 303–304, 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 long John against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.