Tropical wood · Southeast Asia and Oceania
Perepat wood
Perepat (Sonneratia spp., family Sonneratiaceae) is a tropical timber from Southeast Asia and Oceania. Green, its Janka hardness is 1,015–1,140 lbf (4,515–5,071 N), and air-dry it weighs about 30–50 lb/ft³ (481–801 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 739–740.
Other names, by country: Berembang, Gedabu (Malaya), Pagatpat (Philippines), Tabyu, Kambalu, Labe (Burma), Kandal (India).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- Not printed
- Green: 1,015–1,140 lbf (4,515–5,071 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 1,015-1,140 lb for green material.”
- Air-dry density
- 30–50 lb/ft³ (481–801 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.40–0.65 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) variable 0.40-0.65; air-dry density 30-50 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 6.2% tangential
- Radial 2.4%, volumetric 10.0%
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 | 9,120 psi (63 MPa) | 1.23 million psi (8.5 GPa) | 4,215 psi (29 MPa) |
| 5% MC | 10,415 psi (72 MPa) | 1.28 million psi (8.8 GPa) | 6,455 psi (45 MPa) |
| Green | 10,600 psi (73 MPa) | 1.52 million psi (10.5 GPa) | 4,750 psi (33 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood pale gray, gray-brown, light brown to dark chocolate-brown; sapwood grayish, not always sharply differentiated. Texture fine and even; grain straight to slightly interlocked; dull to somewhat lustrous; generally without characteristic odor or taste, S. caseolaris has a salty taste and a fishy smell when freshly cut.
- Working properties
- S. caseolaris is easy to work and takes a fine polish; S. apetala reported to be easy to saw but difficult to work to a smooth finish. Corrodes iron fastenings.
- Durability
- Generally classified as moderately durable but vulnerable to termite attack; may possess some resistance to marine borers.
- Uses
- Light construction, utility furniture, boxes and crates, flooring.
- Where it grows
- Throughout the Indo-Malayan region, inhabiting mangrove swamps along seacoasts and tidal streams.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 739–740, 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 perepat against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.