Thread: Density of Australian Timbers

Thanks Runge, that is very interesting. What I also like about reference is it gives some information about the range of density variation within some species.
Cheers

In case you don't feel like wading through all of those tables, these appear to be the 20 or so densest timbers in Australia, ranked from densest on

1) Acacia peuce
2) Lysiphyllum carronii
3) Acacia cambagei
4) Acacia xiphophylla
5) Casuarina pauper
6) Acacia rhodoxylon
7) Acacia subtesserogona
8) Eucalyptus platycorys
9) Diospyros humilis
10) Acacia papyrocarpa
11) Eucalyptus whitei
12) Acacia omalophylla
13) Eucalyptus shirleyi
14) Acacia grasbyii
15) Eucalyptus oleosa
16) Eucalyptus orgadophila
17) Eucalyptus salubris
18) Lysiphyllum hookeri
19) Erythrophleum chlorostachys
20) Eucalyptus normantonensis
21) Eucalyptus largiflorens var. xanthophylla
22) Archidendropsis basaltica

There are no doubt species for which no data was available that would have otherwise been listed here.

If someone here knows where I can find a sizable piece of heartwood from A. rhodoxylon, L. carronii, or C. pauper, don't be shy ...

thanks for doing that runge most appreciated and welcome to the site. regards charlsie

My one aint there and I think its about no 1 Eucalyptus Polyanthemos or Red Box from memory it ranks just below Lignum Vitae. My interest was glueing the stuff as i never quite managed, being so dense it was waterproof so the glue didnt sink in and joints were airtight so glue didnt set. Two packs tended to shear clean at the joint.

Originally Posted by rrobor

My one aint there and I think its about no 1 Eucalyptus Polyanthemos or Red Box from memory it ranks just below Lignum Vitae. My interest was glueing the stuff as i never quite managed, being so dense it was waterproof so the glue didnt sink in and joints were airtight so glue didnt set. Two packs tended to shear clean at the joint.

Red box is only 1073 kg/m^3 in air dry density and doesn't even make the top 20 Aussie list let alone the world list.

Cooktown Ironwood at 19

I just thought I'd add some species that are the densest in their respective regions (the Americas):

Argentina - Schinopsis balansae, Bulnesia sarmientoi
Bolivia - Schinopsis brasiliensis/glabra, Bulnesia sarmientoi
Guyana - Brosimum guianense, Swartzia bannia
Suriname & French Guiana - Brosimum guianense, Bocoa prouacensis
Brazil - Brosimum guianense, Schinopsis brasiliensis/glabra, Zollernia paraensis, Swartzia corrugata, Chamaecrista scleroxylon
Mexico - Libidibia sclerocarpa, Krugiodendron ferreum, Guaiacum sanctum/officinale/coulteri

The densest wood in the world is the heartwood of Brosimum paraense, I have a piece that was/is 1,540kg/m^3. Absolutely insane.

The Schinopsis species are reddish brown and, upon expose to sunlight, turn brick red. Zollernia paraensis can be almost black. Libidibia species have a beautiful three dimensional figure in them which is black. Due to the darkness of the wood, the figure can get lost; Libidibia paraguariensis seems to have the lightest wood. Both Bocoa prouacensis and Swartzia bannia are medium to dark brown. Krugiodendron ferreum was listed as having a density of 1,410kg/m^3 by Samuel Record but my
two pieces were 1,350kg/m^3 and 1,150kg/m^3. It is light brown. Both Bulnesia species, arborea and sarmientoi, are light brown with varying degrees of green.

My two pieces of A. peuce were ~1,340kg/m^3 and ~1,240kg/m^3 but there was a bit of sapwood on each piece.

The enclosed picture is of a nice Libidibia paraguariensis board. Below it are Guaiacum officinale (light brown), Libidibia sclerocarpa (dark brown), and Bulnesia arborea (green).

Runge can you give us "Common Names" No idea who you are talking aboit

Originally Posted by Lignum

Runge can you give us "Common Names" No idea who you are talking aboit

I'll give it a try ...

1) Schinopsis brasiliensis/glabra is called Soto in Bolivia and Barauna in Brazil. This is part of the genus whose woods are often called "Quebracho" (Quiebra hacha???) or axe-breaker. S. balansae and S. quebracho-colorado are more commonly seen.

2) Bulnesia arborea and sarmientoi are in a sister genus to Guaiacum (Lignum-Vitae). B. arborea grows in Colombia and Venezuela. In the US, we call it verawood. B. sarmientoi grows in Bolivia/Argentina/Paraguay. In the US, we call it either Palo Santo or Argentine Lignum-Vitae.

3) Brosimum guianense is snakewood.

4) Guaiacum sanctum/officinale/coulteri are the three species that go by the name "Lignum-Vitae." G. coulteri is next to impossible to find. The other two can be found on the web.

5) Libidibia species are familiar to few. In 2005, the genus Caesalpinia was restructured. Rather than have "sections" within the genus, many sections were promoted to full genus rank. The old Caesalpinia, section Libidibia is now the genus Libidibia with 7-8 species. Libidibia sclerocarpa grows on the Pacific coast of Mexico and is called "Ebano de Mexico." Libidibia paraguariensis is called "Brown ebony" by US importers but is called Guayacan in Argentina. L. sclerocarpa is extremely difficult to find. The US importer of L. paraguariensis has not brought in any for quite a while so the shelves are currently nearly empty here. I've never seen L. ferrea, L. coriaria, or L. glabrata. Libidibia ebano grows in Colombia and I think it is called "ebano." I'd post link to sellers but I'm afraid that I'd violate rules here.

6) Krugiodendron ferreum is called either "Leadwood" or "Black Ironwood." It is nowhere to be found. I am waiting for an individual to sell the wood he harvested himself while strolling around the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico.

7) Swartzia bannia and Swartzia corrugata are also next to impossible to find. S. bannia grows just inland from the Atlantic, in the near-border area between Guyana and Suriname. There, they call it Banya. S. corrugata grows in the Para and Amazonas regions of Brazil. There, it is usually called "Coracao-de-Negro" (just like 10 other species). Translated, Coracao-de-Negro means heart-of-black.

8) Chamaecrista scleroxylon is from the Para region of Brazil and is usually called Muirapixuna. It is sometimes erroneously listed as being from the genus Cassia, i.e.
Cassia scleroxylon.

9) Zollernia paraensis is called "Pau Santo." There is a dealer in the US with 2500 board feet of it but no one wants it. Amazing! As soon as I can scrape together some money, I am going to buysome. The air-dry density is at least 1260kg/m^3. I'm posting the boards that I bought from him.

10) Bocoa prouacensis grows in Suriname and French Guiana. The names "Boco" and "Bois de Boco" show up. There is quite a bit of the wood growing but no one knows about it so no one chops down the trees. I've never seen any indication that it has ever been marketed in the US. Apparently, the local laws in these countries make doing business there very dicey.

I hope that helped ...

Incidentally, if folks want the names of sellers in the US then maybe you can help me track down a bit more A. peuce as well as some L. carronii and A. rhodoxylon. I'd also like to get a Gidgee board that's pretty long. I just bought a 8.8kg block of A. xiphophylla. Of course, all of this will be done "as funds permit." I'm ambivalent about Casuarina pauper. Is it really as dense as these documents suggest and is it very pretty? By the way, shipping costs are a killer between the US and Australia.

Great stuphph Runge!!

Are you a member of the International Wood Collectors Society?

I ask because this sort of info. is right up their ally.

All Casuarinas are at least "pretty" in my opinion. Some are prettier than others.


This is not the case with the female population of Estonia. All the Females there are gorgeous, except the ugly ones who are only pretty.

Originally Posted by artme

Are you a member of the International Wood Collectors Society?

No, but I talk to a lot of dealers here in the US.

Here's a bit more:

Exotic Wood pau santo
Exotic Wood quebracho
Exotic Wood verawood

Another interesting wood that is just a bit less dense than those I listed above is Swartzia panacoco. A lot of the Brazilian government websites related to wood seem to be down (INPA, IBAMA). So, I'll post INPA's datasheet on Swartzia panacoco. It really looks like those photos. The three small samples that I was sent had a density of 1,265kg/m^3 but that is a bit high for this species. S. panancoco is pretty widespread. It occurs in Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, and Brazil. Currently, one European company sells boards of S. panacoco. One US dealer has had it in the past.

G'day again Runge.

As you can see I am living in Brasil at the moment. I would love to get some of these timbers as pen blanks but getting to a source of supply is difficult. Like anywhere the major timber suppliers stick with a few species, especially now that IBAMA is very active and cracks down on illegal activity.

That is not to say that illegal actiity does not occur. The established businesses with a reputation to keep play a very straight bat.

A dealer here in Atafona stocks Angelim, Purpleheart ( locally called Roxinho ), Tatajuba (This is bright yellow when milled but turns red/brown after sustained exposure to light.) and another whose name escapes me. What staggers me is the strength of these timbers. They span distances and bear weights that I would not have dreamed about.

I have seen Beautiful floors made from Ipe. The boards are 6" wide and up to 5-6 metres long. In Campos, where the wife's family live, one or two streets are lined with Ipe that were planted when her grandfather was mayor. They are all yellow flowering and are the most yellow yellow I have ever seen.

Peroba is on the banned list but I have some small pieces retrieved from old furniture. I also have some Jacaranda do Bahia from old furniture. This is now a protected species.

Now that I have some scientific names, thanks toyou I can make more enquiries about how to get samples.

Hi Artme,

If I was in Brazil, here would be my list of woods to track down. As you read my list, only dense woods are present. I don't have much interest in many woods that other folks really want; like Mahogany (Swietenia) or Dalbergia woods. Remember, the sister genera to Dalbergia include Machaerium and Platymiscium.

1) Zollernia paraensis - Pau Santo
2) Schinopsis brasiliensis - Barauna
3) Chamaecrista scleroxylon - Muirapixuna
4) Swartzia corrugata/panacoco - Coracao-de-negro
5) Aniba canelilla - Preciosa
6) Hymenaea parvifolia -
7) Dialium guianense - Jutaí pororoca
8) Libidibia ferrea - Pau Ferro or Juca
9) Astronium urundeuva -
10) Peltogyne paniculata -
11) Zollernia ilicifolia -

Here's one that is a lot like your Cardwellia sublimis but much more dense:

a) Roupala montana - Faeira

Here are two good lists of woods sold in Brazil:

S I N D I M A S P :: SINDICATO DO COMÉRCIO ATACADISTA DE MADEIRAS DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO
International Specialties: Species Page

If you can find a source for Swartzia corrugata, please let me know. I suspect that the cities of Santarem and Manaus are the places to go looking for these woods. Some of this stuff can be bought from stores in the US. Pau Santo and Preciosa are available as boards and Barauna is available in 0.75" thick flooring. Again, S. panacoco is available from a European dealer.

Originally Posted by Runge

..................I'm ambivalent about Casuarina pauper. Is it really as dense as these documents suggest and is it very pretty? .........

Very dense but very bland. Close cousin to casuarina cristata (Belah) whose only claim to fame is it's exceptional qualities as firewood
Note - launching an email tonight Chris.

Originally Posted by artme

..........All Casuarinas are at least "pretty" in my opinion. Some are prettier than others.
This is not the case with the female population of Estonia. All the Females there are gorgeous, except the ugly ones who are only pretty.

c.pauper (Black Oak) and c.cristata (Belah) don't have a visible medullary ray which is what makes all the others pretty - you would not send these two too Estonia