Tropical wood · Southeast Asia and Oceania
Needlewood wood
Needlewood (Schima spp., family Theaceae) is a tropical timber from Southeast Asia and Oceania. Dry, its Janka hardness is 1,245 lbf (5,538 N), and air-dry it weighs about 43 lb/ft³ (689 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 725–726.
Other names, by country: Laukya (Burma), Chilauni (India), Mang-tan (Thailand), Medang Gatal (Malaysia), Chinese guger tree (Taiwan).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 1,245 lbf (5,538 N)
- Green: 775 lbf (3,447 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 775 lb for green material and 1,245 lb for dry.”
- Air-dry density
- 43 lb/ft³ (689 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.54 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.54; air-dry density 43 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 8.5% tangential
- Radial 4.5%, volumetric 20.1%
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 2 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 | 7,900 psi (54 MPa) | 1.36 million psi (9.4 GPa) | 3,780 psi (26 MPa) |
| 14% MC | 14,300 psi (99 MPa) | 1.97 million psi (13.6 GPa) | 7,645 psi (53 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood light red, reddish-brown or yellowish-brown, sometimes with darker bands; sapwood whitish but gradually merging into heartwood. Texture moderately fine and even; grain straight to interlocked and irregular; luster low; without characteristic odor or taste.
- Working properties
- Saws easily, works to a smooth finish, and takes a fine polish. Bark contains needle-like crystals that may be an irritant in working.
- Durability
- Heartwood not durable when exposed or in ground contact.
- Uses
- Joinery, flooring, furniture components, millwork, construction work (under cover).
- Where it grows
- Various species range from the Indo-Malayan region to Indonesia and northward to the Philippines, China, and Taiwan; common in mountain areas.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 725–726, 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 needlewood against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.