Tropical wood · Southeast Asia and Oceania
Rose-maple wood
Rose-maple (Cryptocarya spp., family Lauraceae) is a tropical timber from Southeast Asia and Oceania. Dry, its Janka hardness is 1,515–2,095 lbf (6,739–9,319 N), and air-dry it weighs about 35–55 lb/ft³ (561–881 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 601–602.
Other names, by country: Rose-Maple, White Laurel (Australia), Tawenna (Ceylon), Dugkatan, Lamot (Philippines), Moustiquaire (New Caledonia), Medang (Malaya).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 1,515–2,095 lbf (6,739–9,319 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 1,515 lb to 2,095 lb for dry material.”
- Air-dry density
- 35–55 lb/ft³ (561–881 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.45–0.73 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) varies with species from 0.45 to 0.73; air-dry density 35 to 55 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 7.6% tangential
- Radial 4.2%, volumetric 12.2%
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 | 19,600 psi (135 MPa) | — | 6,090 psi (42 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 23,400 psi (161 MPa) | 2.74 million psi (18.9 GPa) | 11,600 psi (80 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 19,300 psi (133 MPa) | 2.49 million psi (17.2 GPa) | 9,680 psi (67 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 14,500 psi (100 MPa) | 1.51 million psi (10.4 GPa) | 6,400 psi (44 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood pinkish-brown, grayish-brown, reddish-brown, or chocolate-brown; sapwood lighter in color but not distinct. Grain usually straight; texture rather fine to medium; luster low; sometimes with an aromatic odor when freshly cut but without distinctive odor or taste when dry. Silica content up to 0.82% reported for some species.
- Working properties
- Generally reported to be not difficult to work with hand and machine tools.
- Durability
- Variable with species,; C. erythroxylon of Australia is not resistant to decay, while C. bicolor in the Philippines is reported to be durable. Sapwood prone to powder-post beetle attack.
- Uses
- Cabinetwork, flooring, joinery, decorative veneers, paneling, construction (C. membranacea).
- Where it grows
- Ranging from southern India and Ceylon into Malaysia and the Philippines and southward to Australia.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 601–602, a USDA Forest Products Laboratory work in the public domain.
Work it out for your project
- Rank woods for cabinets and trim with the species picker
Weigh rose-maple against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.