Tropical wood · Tropical America
Podocarp wood
Podocarp (Podocarpus spp., family Podocarpaceae) is a tropical timber from tropical America. Dry, its Janka hardness is 760 lbf (3,381 N), and air-dry it weighs about 28–42 lb/ft³ (449–673 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 247–248.
Other names, by country: Ciprés (Guatemala, Honduras), Cipricillo, Cipresillo lorito (Costa Rica), Pino chaquiro (Colombia), Pino castañeto (Venezuela), Pinho bravo (Brazil); Mañiu, Mañio (Chile).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 760 lbf (3,381 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness at 12% moisture content 760 lb.”
- Air-dry density
- 28–42 lb/ft³ (449–673 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.37–0.55 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) varies with species from 0.37 to 0.55; air-dry density 28 to 42 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 6.4% tangential
- Radial 2.6%, volumetric 9.6%
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 5 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 | 8,700 psi (60 MPa) | 1.25 million psi (8.6 GPa) | 4,320 psi (30 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 11,800 psi (81 MPa) | 1.38 million psi (9.5 GPa) | 6,980 psi (48 MPa) |
| Green | 6,500 psi (45 MPa) | 0.78 million psi (5.4 GPa) | 2,970 psi (20 MPa) |
| 15% MC | 8,550 psi (59 MPa) | — | 4,600 psi (32 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 15,600 psi (108 MPa) | 2.08 million psi (14.3 GPa) | — |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood pale yellow to yellowish-brown; not distinct from sapwood. Texture fine and uniform without conspicuous zones of latewood; somewhat lustrous; grain usually straight but may be slightly interlocked; odor or taste absent or not distinctive in seasoned wood.
- Working properties
- The timber works easily with hand and power tools; nails easily and takes stain, varnish, and paint satisfactorily.
- Durability
- Heartwood from trees grown in Belize reported to be moderately durable in ground contact under tropical exposure. Durability of other species from other areas reported as low.
- Uses
- Joinery, millwork, furniture components, boxes and crates, general construction, veneer and plywood, pulp and paper, patternmaking.
- Where it grows
- Various species in mountainous areas from the West Indies and southern Mexico south to southern Chile.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 247–248, 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 podocarp against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.