- GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS: heartwood reddish brown with dark streaks, becoming dark brownish red, sharply demarcated from the pale brown sapwood. Grain interlocked, texture medium, not distinctive odor and taste when dry.
- DENSITY: heavy wood with density at 12% moisture content of 890 kg/m3 and the green density of 1,240 kg/m3.
- DRYING: air and kiln-dries easily and rapidly, without serious problems of checking and warping.
- WORKABILITY: difficult to plane, medium to sand, good to bore and very good to turn. Good gluing, finishing and steam-bending properties. Problems when veneering and peeling due to crystals. Finishes well with paint and varnish. Polishes well.
- DURABILITY: heartwood very resistant to fungi and termites. Sapwood easily attacked. Low resistance to marine borers.
- PRESERVATION: heartwood not treatable with creosote or CCA-A, even with pressure-vaccum systems.
- USES: civil construction, framing, fine furniture, tool handles, sport goods, railroad crossties, musical instruments, turnery, automobile and truck bodies, sliced veneers and others.
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