Tropical wood · Southeast Asia and Oceania
White Cypress-pine wood
White Cypress-pine (Callitris glauca, family Cupressaceae) is a tropical timber from Southeast Asia and Oceania. Green, its Janka hardness is 1,030 lbf (4,582 N), and air-dry it weighs about 42 lb/ft³ (673 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 575–576.
Other names, by country: Murray River Pine, Murray River Cypress, Cypress Pine, Murray Pine (Australia).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- Not printed
- Green: 1,030 lbf (4,582 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 1,030 lb for green material and 1,375 at 12% moisture content.”
- Air-dry density
- 42 lb/ft³ (673 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.58 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.58; air-dry density 42 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to air-dry
- 2.8% tangential
- Radial 2.1%, volumetric 4.0%
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 2 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 | 10,300 psi (71 MPa) | 1.11 million psi (7.7 GPa) | 5,220 psi (36 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 11,400 psi (79 MPa) | 1.3 million psi (9 GPa) | 7,610 psi (52 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- The timber is light brown in color with dark brown longitudinal streaks; sapwood varies from pale straw to pinkish-tan. Grain is usually straight; texture rather fine; lustrous; aromatic camphor-like odor; greasy feel; many tight, small, dark brown knots.
- Working properties
- The timber is fairly easy to work although there is some tearing of grain around knots; dresses well to a smooth finish and takes a high polish; some tendency to split when nailed.
- Durability
- The heartwood is rated as very durable and is highly resistant to attack by both decay fungi and insects, including termites. High resistance to marine organisms is also reported.
- Uses
- Light construction including siding, flooring, and joinery, posts and poles, decorative veneer, furniture components.
- Where it grows
- Widely distributed throughout Australia with main commercial development in New South Wales and Queensland.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 575–576, 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 white Cypress-pine against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.