Tropical wood · Tropical America
Suradan wood
Suradan (Hyeronima alchorneoides, family Euphorbiaceae) is a tropical timber from tropical America. Dry, its Janka hardness is 1,700 lbf (7,562 N), and air-dry it weighs about 46–53 lb/ft³ (737–849 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 169–170.
Other names, by country: Curtidor (Honduras), Nancito (Nicaragua), Pantano (Panama), Carne asada, Trompillo (Venezuela), Cargamanto Casaco (Colombia), Suradanni (Surinam), Sangue-de-boi, Urucurana (Brazil).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 1,700 lbf (7,562 N)
- Green: 1,220 lbf (5,427 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 1,220 lb for green material and 1,700 lb at 12% moisture content.”
- Air-dry density
- 46–53 lb/ft³ (737–849 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.60–0.67 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.60 to 0.67; air-dry density 46 to 53 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 11.7% tangential
- Radial 5.4%, volumetric 17.0%
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 | 10,680 psi (74 MPa) | 1.88 million psi (13 GPa) | 4,960 psi (34 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 18,200 psi (125 MPa) | 2.27 million psi (15.7 GPa) | 9,620 psi (66 MPa) |
| Green | 11,500 psi (79 MPa) | 1.52 million psi (10.5 GPa) | 4,900 psi (34 MPa) |
| 15% MC | 16,500 psi (114 MPa) | — | 8,450 psi (58 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood is a light reddish-brown, to chocolate-brown, to dark red; sapwood is pinkish-white and 1 to 2 in. wide. Luster is low; texture moderately coarse; grain is interlocked; without distinctive odor or taste; tangential surfaces have parabolic markings due to variations in color at the margins of seasonal growth increments,
- Working properties
- The wood is reported to have good working properties in all operations except planing which is rated poor due to the characteristic roey grain.
- Durability
- The wood is rated moderately durable to very durable in ground contact based on laboratory pure culture evaluations as well as experience in railroad track. Resistant to moderately resistant to subterranean and dry-wood termites. Resistance to marine borers reported high for H. laxiflora
- Uses
- Heavy construction, railway crossties, marine work, furniture, cabinet work, decorative veneers, flooring, turnery, and joinery.
- Where it grows
- Depending on the species, ranges from southern Mexico to southern Brazil including the Guianas, Peru, and Colombia, also throughout the West Indies. Varies from abundant in seasonal marshes to relic occurrence in old forests on heavy soils.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 169–170, 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 suradan against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.