Tropical wood · Tropical America
Sali wood
Sali (Tetragastris spp., family Burseraceae) is a tropical timber from tropical America. Dry, its Janka hardness is 1,770–2,170 lbf (7,873–9,653 N), and air-dry it weighs about 48–61 lb/ft³ (769–977 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 301–302.
Other names, by country: Masa, Palo de aceite (Puerto Rico), Kerosén (Nicaragua), Palo de cerdo, Aguarrás (Colombia), Haiawaballi (Guyana, Gommier, Encens rouge (French Guiana), Almesca (Brazil).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 1,770–2,170 lbf (7,873–9,653 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness at 12% moisture content 1,770 to 2,170 lb.”
- Air-dry density
- 48–61 lb/ft³ (769–977 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.63–0.78 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) varies with species from 0.63 to 0.78; air-dry density 48 to 61 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 8.5% tangential
- Radial 4.4%, volumetric 13.9%
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 | 12,380 psi (85 MPa) | 1.65 million psi (11.4 GPa) | 5,460 psi (38 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 16,090 psi (111 MPa) | 1.89 million psi (13 GPa) | 8,380 psi (58 MPa) |
| Green | 12,300 psi (85 MPa) | 1.94 million psi (13.4 GPa) | 6,800 psi (47 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 15,200 psi (105 MPa) | 2.18 million psi (15 GPa) | 8,300 psi (57 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 19,400 psi (134 MPa) | 2.41 million psi (16.6 GPa) | 10,200 psi (70 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood orange-brown; rather sharply demarcated from the yellowish-brown sapwood. Luster medium to rather high; texture fine; grain mostly irregular to distinctly roey; without distinctive taste, but with fragrant balsamic scent. A silica content of 0.13% is reported.
- Working properties
- Reported to be moderately difficult to moderately easy to machine, varying with species. Steambending characteristics are fair to good.
- Durability
- Heartwood is rated durable to very durable in its resistance to both brown-rot and white-rot fungi, but only somewhat resistant to attack by dry-wood termites.
- Uses
- Heavy construction, flooring, furniture, interior trim, slack cooperage, railroad crossties. Suggested as a substitute for birch and maple.
- Where it grows
- West Indies, Central America, and northern South America. Widely distributed and locally frequent in the high forests of Surinam.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 301–302, 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 sali against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.