Tropical wood · Tropical America
Yemeri wood
Yemeri (Vochysia spp., family Vochysiaceae) is a tropical timber from tropical America. Dry, its Janka hardness is 530–680 lbf (2,358–3,025 N), and air-dry it weighs about 28–43 lb/ft³ (449–689 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 313–314.
Other names, by country: Corpus (Mexico), Yemeri (Belize, Nicaragua), Corosillo (Panama), Dormilon (Colombia), Tin-tin (Venezuela), Kwari (Surinam), Kouali (French Guiana), Chambo caspi (Peru), Quaruba (Brazil).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 530–680 lbf (2,358–3,025 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness at 12% moisture content ranges from 530 to 680 lb.”
- Air-dry density
- 28–43 lb/ft³ (449–689 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.37–0.57 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) varies with species from 0.37 to 0.57, commonly close to 0.40; air-dry density ranges from 28 to 43 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 10.6% tangential
- Radial 3.2%, volumetric 13.0%
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 | 6,120 psi (42 MPa) | 1.22 million psi (8.4 GPa) | 2,760 psi (19 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 9,090 psi (63 MPa) | 1.39 million psi (9.6 GPa) | 5,840 psi (40 MPa) |
| Green | 6,300 psi (43 MPa) | 1.25 million psi (8.6 GPa) | 3,000 psi (21 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 11,300 psi (78 MPa) | 1.67 million psi (11.5 GPa) | 5,550 psi (38 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood a dull uniform pink, pinkishbrown or golden-brown; not always sharply demarcated from the whitish to yellowish sapwood. Luster medium to high; texture is moderately coarse; grain slightly to highly interlocked; without distinctive odor or taste. Vertical traumatic gum ducts may occur sporadically and is sometimes considered as an objectionable defect.
- Working properties
- The wood is easily worked by either hand or machine tools but raised and wooly grain are common defects; takes glue, paint, and nails well and polishes to a good finish. The wood has a tendency to blunt cutting edges.
- Durability
- Variable in decay resistance, generally reported to be susceptible to attack by fungi as well as insects.
- Uses
- Carpentry, utility plywood, furniture components, interior trim, millwork. The wood is suggested as a substitute for Cedrela.
- Where it grows
- Throughout tropical America from southern Mexico to Peru but most abundant in the Guianas and Brazil. The trees make their best growth on coastal plains and along waterways, forms almost pure stands on abandoned farms.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 313–314, 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 yemeri against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.