Tropical wood · Southeast Asia and Oceania
Narra wood
Narra (Pterocarpus indicus, family Leguminosae) is a tropical timber from Southeast Asia and Oceania. Dry, its Janka hardness is 1,055–1,350 lbf (4,693–6,005 N), and air-dry it weighs about 40 lb/ft³ (641 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 719–720.
Other names, by country: Angsana (Sabah), Sena (Malaya), Amboyna (a name for highly figured veneers cut from burls).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 1,055–1,350 lbf (4,693–6,005 N)
- Green: 945–1,080 lbf (4,204–4,804 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 945-1,080 lb for green material and 1,055-1,350 lb for dry.”
- Air-dry density
- 40 lb/ft³ (641 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.52 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.52; air-dry density 40 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 4.0% tangential
- Radial 2.8%
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 | 10,700 psi (74 MPa) | 1.47 million psi (10.1 GPa) | 5,570 psi (38 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 13,800 psi (95 MPa) | 1.77 million psi (12.2 GPa) | 8,450 psi (58 MPa) |
| Green | 10,100 psi (70 MPa) | 1.48 million psi (10.2 GPa) | 5,150 psi (36 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 14,200 psi (98 MPa) | 1.7 million psi (11.7 GPa) | 7,900 psi (54 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood light yellow, golden-brown, reddish-brown, to a distinct red; sapwood whitish or pale straw, clearly defined. Texture moderately fine to moderately coarse and uneven due to the ring-porous structure; grain interlocked and sometimes wavy, together with dark growth bands produce an attractive figure; somewhat lustrous; has a fragrant odor which persists even when dry.
- Working properties
- Easy to work with both hand and machine tools; turns well, and takes a good finish.
- Durability
- Generally, heartwood is reported to be very durable. Some experience in Malaya is conflicting.
- Uses
- A valued furniture and cabinet wood, decorative veneers, novelty items, interior trim.
- Where it grows
- Philippines, Borneo, Burma, New Guinea, and the Malay Archipelago. Often planted for shade along roadsides and as an ornamental.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 719–720, 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 narra against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.