Tropical wood · Tropical America
Sajo wood
Sajo (Campnosperma panamensis, family Anacardiaceae) is a tropical timber from tropical America. Dry, its Janka hardness is 425 lbf (1,890 N), and air-dry it weighs about 25 lb/ft³ (400 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 69–70.
Other names, by country: Not known.
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 425 lbf (1,890 N)
- Green: 336 lbf (1,495 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 336 lb for green material and 425 lb at 12% moisture content.”
- Air-dry density
- 25 lb/ft³ (400 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.33 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.33; air-dry density 25 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- Not printed
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 | 5,080 psi (35 MPa) | 1.07 million psi (7.4 GPa) | 2,660 psi (18 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 8,700 psi (60 MPa) | 1.48 million psi (10.2 GPa) | 5,200 psi (36 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood white to grayish-buff sometimes with a yellowish tint; no marked contrast with the sapwood. Somewhat silvery luster; fine textured; straight grained; distinctive odor when fresh, but without characteristic odor or taste when dry.
- Working properties
- This is a wood that is easy to saw and machine with ordinary shop tools; holds nails well; finishes smoothly.
- Durability
- The wood is not resistant to attack by decay fungi or insects; prone to blue stain.
- Uses
- Boxes and food containers, furniture components, millwork, moldings, plywood, particleboard, fiberboard, pulp and paper products; also suggested for pencil slats.
- Where it grows
- Reported in the Atlantic lowlands of northern Panama, adjacent Costa Rica, and Pacific coastal regions of Colombia; forms almost pure stands in these marshy areas.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 69–70, 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 sajo against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.