Tropical wood · Tropical America
Trumpet-wood wood
Trumpet-wood (Cecropia peltata, family Moraceae) is a tropical timber from tropical America. Dry, its Janka hardness is 320 lbf (1,423 N), and air-dry it weighs about 20–26 lb/ft³ (320–416 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 79–80.
Other names, by country: Yagrumo (Cuba, Venezuela), Guarumo (Mexico, Colombia), Boessi papaja (Surinam), Imbaúba (Brazil), Cetico, Tacuna (Peru), Ambahú (Argentina).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 320 lbf (1,423 N)
- Green: 220 lbf (979 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 220 lb for green and 320 lb for dry material.”
- Air-dry density
- 20–26 lb/ft³ (320–416 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.26–0.34 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.26 to 0.34, air-dry density 20 to 26 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 6.2% tangential
- Radial 2.0%, volumetric 8.3%
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 | 4,040 psi (28 MPa) | 0.86 million psi (5.9 GPa) | 1,870 psi (13 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 6,490 psi (45 MPa) | 1.09 million psi (7.5 GPa) | 3,490 psi (24 MPa) |
| Green | 6,100 psi (42 MPa) | 1.21 million psi (8.3 GPa) | 3,240 psi (22 MPa) |
| 15% MC | 8,800 psi (61 MPa) | — | 4,300 psi (30 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- No distinction between sapwood and heartwood, whitish when freshly cut becoming pale brown or oatmeal-colored upon exposure. Fairly lustrous; texture coarse; grain generally straight; without distinctive odor or taste.
- Working properties
- Seasoned wood is very easy to saw and machine compared with green wood. Surfaces tend to tear and fuzz in shaping and turning but gives good results in planing and sanding. Nails readily and holds screws well. Difficult to finish with varnish or lacquer.
- Durability
- The wood is very susceptible to attack by decay fungi, termites, and other insects. Prone to blue stain.
- Uses
- Wood resembles North American black cottonwood in both density and mechanical properties. Used for plywood core stock, particleboard, matchsticks, boxes and crates, and excelsior. Neutral sulfite semichemical pulps were converted into bond papers of excellent brightness and appearance.
- Where it grows
- Throughout tropical America. Abundant in open areas and in forests, both virgin and cutover, often forming almost pure stands.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 79–80, a USDA Forest Products Laboratory work in the public domain.
Work it out for your project
- Rank woods for ground contact with the species picker
Weigh trumpet-wood against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.