Tropical wood · Tropical America
Trebol wood
Trebol (Platymiscium spp., family Leguminosae) is a tropical timber from tropical America. Dry, its Janka hardness is 1,710–3,200 lbf (7,606–14,234 N), and air-dry it weighs about 55–73 lb/ft³ (881–1,169 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 245–246.
Other names, by country: Granadillo (Mexico, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras), Coyote, Cristobal (Costa Rica), Trebol, Guayacan trebol (Colombia), Roble (Venezuela), Koenatepi (Surinam), Macacauba, Jacaranda do brejo (Brazil), Cumaseba (Peru).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 1,710–3,200 lbf (7,606–14,234 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness at 12% moisture content ranges from 1,710 lb to 3,200 lb.”
- Air-dry density
- 55–73 lb/ft³ (881–1,169 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.73–0.94 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) varies with species from 0.73 to 0.94; air-dry density 55 to 73 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 3.5% tangential
- Radial 2.7%, volumetric 6.5%
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 | 22,320 psi (154 MPa) | 3.02 million psi (20.8 GPa) | 10,540 psi (73 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 27,600 psi (190 MPa) | 3.2 million psi (22.1 GPa) | 16,100 psi (111 MPa) |
| Green | 15,900 psi (110 MPa) | 2.13 million psi (14.7 GPa) | 7,460 psi (51 MPa) |
| 15% MC | 17,500 psi (121 MPa) | — | 8,940 psi (62 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 16,800 psi (116 MPa) | 2.5 million psi (17.2 GPa) | 9,800 psi (68 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood bright red to reddish or purplishbrown, more or less distinctly striped; darker specimens look waxy; sharply demarcated from the nearly white sapwood. Luster medium to high; grain straight to roey; texture mostly medium to fine, sometimes coarse; without distinctive odor or taste.
- Working properties
- Not very difficult to work, finishes smoothly, and takes a high polish.
- Durability
- Heartwood reported to be highly resistant to attack by decay fungi and insects; resistance to dry-wood termites is rated very high.
- Uses
- Fine furniture and cabinet work, decorative veneers, musical instruments, turnery, joinery, specialty items (violin bows, billiard cues).
- Where it grows
- Continental tropical America from southern Mexico to the Brazilian Amazon region, and Trinidad.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 245–246, 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 trebol against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.