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Thread: Anybody Ever Use "Guanacaste" Wood?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Tampa, FL
    Posts
    937

    Question Anybody Ever Use "Guanacaste" Wood?

    The Guanacaste, (Enterolobium cyclocarpum), is the national tree of Costa Rica. Here in Florida it's considered a pest, having been introduced as a shade tree a few decades back. It turns out that the tree not only grows like a weed, but it tends to drop very large branches whenever the wind kicks up -- much to the peril of anyone/thing located in the general vicinity.

    Anyhoo, a rather decently sized example of one of these puppies flopped over during one of our hurricanes, (I can no longer keep them straight), just across the street and over a couple hundred yards from the location of my pecan tree. Next time I go over there, (prolly this coming Saturday), I'm going to see if I can snag a nice piece of trunk.

    Just for kicks, last time I was there I brought home a 14" x 4' piece of log that had rolled into the yard of the woman who sold me the pecan tree. The log had been lying in a shady/wet part of the yard for about a year, and from looking at the ends of it I thought it might be spalted. Alas, when I ripped the log open yesterday I found no joy. Oh well.

    Next time, I'll be sure to get some pics, even if I can't get the wood.

    In the meantime, please try to content yourselves with the pics below, which I have gathered from the web, and which include two purportedly typical examples of grain/color of this wood, a pic of a full grown tree, a pic of a nice log freshly cut somewhere south of the border, and a pic of some nice figured wood from one of these puppies. (See end of post.)

    The heartwood seems to have similar working properties to Hondo Mahogony, i.e., nice color but fuzzy in all directions. It's also quite a bit heavier.

    Here is a description of the wood from the web:

    ************************************************** **
    Enterolobium cyclocarpum http://www.windsorplywood.com/tropic...uanacaste.html


    Guanacaste

    Family: Leguminosae

    Other Common Names: Conocaste, Orejo, Perota (Mexico), Genicero, Jarina (Costa Rica), Corotu (Panama), Orejero, Caro (Colombia), Carocaro (Venezuela).

    Distribution: Mexico and southward through Central America to Trinidad, Venezuela, Guyana, and Brazil; often planted as an ornamental.

    The Tree: Tree heights 60 to 100 ft with a stout short trunk 3 to 6 ft or more in diameter; large spreading crown.

    The Wood:

    General Characteristics: Heartwood brown with various shadings, sometimes with a reddish tinge; sharply demarcated from the whitish sapwood. Grain typically interlocked; texture coarse; without distinctive odor or taste but dust from machining is pungent and irritating to mucous membranes and may cause allergies.

    Weight: Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.34; air-dry density 26 pcf.

    Mechanical Properties: (2-in. standard)

    Moisture content Bending strength Modulus of elasticity Maximum crushing strength

    (%) (Psi) (1,000 psi) (Psi)

    12% (21) 8,500 1,050 4,900

    Green (39) 5,030 610 NA

    Janka side hardness at 12% moisture content 520 lb.

    Drying and Shrinkage: Seasons with little tendency to warp or check. Kiln schedule T6-D4 is suggested for 4/4 stock. Shrinkage green to ovendry: radial 2.0%; tangential 5.2%; volumetric 7.2%. Holds its place well when manufactured.

    Working Properties: The wood is easy to work with hand and machine tools but raised and chipped grain is common in planing as well as rough end grain in shaping. Tension wood is common resulting in fuzzy grain in most operations. Dust from dry wood is an irritant.

    Durability: The heartwood is reported to have good resistance to attack by decay fungi; also resistant to dry-wood termite attack.

    Preservation: No data available. Uses: Core stock, pattern wood, paneling, interior trim, furniture components, and veneer.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    ---------------------------------------
    James Krenov says that "the craftsman lives in a
    condition where the size of his public is almost in
    inverse proportion to the quality of his work."
    (James Krenov, A Cabinetmaker's Notebook, 1976.)

    I guess my public must be pretty huge then.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    Jacksonville, FL
    Posts
    859
    Never used or heard of it. But I like the looks of it. The example in the last picture is beautiful.
    Marshall
    ---------------------------
    A Stickley fan boy.

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