Tropical wood · Southeast Asia and Oceania
Mersawa wood
Mersawa (Anisoptera spp., family Dipterocarpaceae) is a tropical timber from Southeast Asia and Oceania. Dry, its Janka hardness is 875 lbf (3,892 N), and air-dry it weighs about 34–47 lb/ft³ (545–753 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 557–558.
Other names, by country: Pengiran (Sabah), Palosapis (Philippines), Kaunghmu (Burma), Phdiek (Cambodia), Mersawa (Malaysia), Krabak (Thailand), Ven-ven (Indochina).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 875 lbf (3,892 N)
- Green: 725 lbf (3,225 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 725 lb for green material and 875 lb at 12% moisture content.”
- Air-dry density
- 34–47 lb/ft³ (545–753 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.46–0.62 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) varies with species from 0.46 to 0.62; air-dry density 34 to 47 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 9.0% tangential
- Radial 4.0%, volumetric 14.6%
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 | 7,850 psi (54 MPa) | 1.74 million psi (12 GPa) | 3,880 psi (27 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 13,500 psi (93 MPa) | 2.22 million psi (15.3 GPa) | 7,220 psi (50 MPa) |
| Green | 8,130 psi (56 MPa) | 1.58 million psi (10.9 GPa) | 4,150 psi (29 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 18,100 psi (125 MPa) | 1.72 million psi (11.9 GPa) | 8,400 psi (58 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood pale yellow or light yellow-brown, sometimes with a pinkish tinge, darkening on exposure; sapwood lighter but not sharply demarcated. Texture moderately coarse; grain interlocked; not lustrous; without distinctive odor or taste when dry; silica ranging from 0.24 to 1.37% is reported.
- Working properties
- The timber can be worked to a good finish but there is considerable dulling of cutters due to the silica content. Carbide-tipped tools are suggested.
- Durability
- Generally classified as moderately resistant to attack by decay fungi and nonresistant to termites. Sapwood is particularly vulnerable to powder-post beetles and stain.
- Uses
- Veneer and plywood, joinery, furniture components, flooring, light construction.
- Where it grows
- From Burma, throughout the Malayan region, Philippines, and. New Guinea.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 557–558, 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 mersawa against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.