Tropical wood · Southeast Asia and Oceania
Simpoh wood
Simpoh (Dillenia spp., family Dilleniaceae) is a tropical timber from Southeast Asia and Oceania. Dry, its Janka hardness is 1,000–1,500 lbf (4,448–6,672 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. 613–614.
Other names, by country: Katmon (Philippines, San, San-na (Thailand), Thabyu (Burma), Simpur (Indonesia), Poplea (Cambodia), Dillenia (India).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 1,000–1,500 lbf (4,448–6,672 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness about 1,000 to 1,500 lb for dry material.”
- Air-dry density
- 35–55 lb/ft³ (561–881 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.46–0.72 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) varies with species from 0.46 to 0.72; air-dry density 35 to 55 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to air-dry
- 3.9% tangential
- Radial 2.2%
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 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 | 8,570 psi (59 MPa) | 1.23 million psi (8.4 GPa) | 4,155 psi (29 MPa) |
| 11% MC | 13,595 psi (94 MPa) | 1.71 million psi (11.8 GPa) | 7,010 psi (48 MPa) |
| Green | 5,200 psi (36 MPa) | — | 3,480 psi (24 MPa) |
| 12% MC | — | — | 5,950 psi (41 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 15,700 psi (108 MPa) | — | 8,500 psi (59 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood red-brown, sometimes with a purplish tinge and occasional white lines due to deposits in the vessels; sapwood lighter in color and poorly defined. Grain straight to irregular; texture rather coarse but even; somewhat lustrous; without distinctive odor or taste; figured on quartered faces.
- Working properties
- Saws and, works well, dresses smoothly. Very fine sawdust tends to clog the saw.
- Durability
- Heartwood not durable and sapwood liable to powder-post beetle attack.
- Uses
- Plywood, interior joinery, furniture and cabinetwork, railroad crossties if treated.
- Where it grows
- Indo-Malaysia.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 613–614, 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 simpoh against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.