Tropical wood · Southeast Asia and Oceania
White Seraya wood
White Seraya (Parashorea spp., family Dipterocarpaceae) is a tropical timber from Southeast Asia and Oceania. Dry, its Janka hardness is 710–965 lbf (3,158–4,293 N), and air-dry it weighs about 33 lb/ft³ (529 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 699–700.
Other names, by country: Bagtikan (Philippines), Urat mata (Sabah).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 710–965 lbf (3,158–4,293 N)
- Green: 665–785 lbf (2,958–3,492 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 665-785 lb for green material and 710-965 lb for dry.”
- Air-dry density
- 33 lb/ft³ (529 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.44 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.44; air-dry density 33 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to 12% moisture content
- 4.2% tangential
- Radial 1.6%
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 | 9,850 psi (68 MPa) | 1.7 million psi (11.7 GPa) | 4,750 psi (33 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 14,500 psi (100 MPa) | 1.99 million psi (13.7 GPa) | 7,600 psi (52 MPa) |
| Green | 8,850 psi (61 MPa) | 1.32 million psi (9.1 GPa) | 4,630 psi (32 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 11,700 psi (81 MPa) | 1.4 million psi (9.7 GPa) | 7,000 psi (48 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood straw colored or light brown, sometimes with a pinkish tint; sapwood paler in color, not clearly defined, usually 2-1/2 to 3 in. wide. Texture moderately coarse; grain interlocked; without characteristic odor or taste. Brittleheart frequently present.
- Working properties
- The timber works fairly easily with hand and machine tools, only slight blunting of cutters; finishes well; good gluing and nailing characteristics; takes a satisfactory finish.
- Durability
- Not durable to moderately durable in ground contact; not resistant to termite attack; sapwood liable to powder-post beetle attack.
- Uses
- Interior joinery, light construction, flooring, plywood, furniture and cabinetwork, general carpentry work, ships' decking.
- Where it grows
- This wood is produced mainly by two species and is available commercially from Sabah and the Philippines; rather abundant.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 699–700, 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 Seraya against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.