Brazilwood

Brazilwood (C. platyloba pictured)

Common Name(s): Brazilwood, Pernambuco

Scientific Name: Caesalpinia echinata (syn. Guilandina echinata)

Distribution: Brazil

Tree Size: 30-50 ft (9-15 m) tall, 2-3 ft (.6-1 m) trunk diameter

Average Dried Weight: 61 lbs/ft³ (980 kg/m³)

Basic Specific Gravity: .76

Hardness: 2,820 lb_f (12,540 N)

Rupture Strength: 26,010 lb_f/in² (179,350 kPa)

Elastic Strength: 2,544,000 lb_f/in² (17,550 MPa)

Crushing Strength: No data available

Shrinkage: Radial: 5.1%, Tangential: 8.1%, Volumetric: 13.3%, T/R Ratio: 1.6

Color/Appearance: Heartwood is a yellowish orange, sometimes a darker reddish brown. Whitish yellow sapwood is clearly demarcated.

Grain/Pore: Grain is usually straight, though sometimes interlocked. Has a fine, even texture with a good natural luster.

Endgrain: No data available.

Durability: Brazilwood is rated as very durable regarding decay resistance.

Workability: Despite its high density, Brazilwood is reported to have good workability, responding well to machining and shaping operations.

Scent: There is no characteristic odor associated with this wood species.

Safety: Although severe reactions are quite uncommon, Brazilwood has been reported to cause skin irritation, as well as a number of other effects, such as headache, nausea, swelling skin, and blisters. See the articles Wood Allergies and Toxicity and Wood Dust Safety for more information.

Price/Availability: Unfortunately, Brazilwood has been exploited in centuries past, and is now listed as an endangered species, with international trade being tightly restricted. Prices are likely to be very high, and from dubious sources. No plantations or sustainable sources for this wood are known to exist at the time of this writing (2012).

Comments: Perhaps the only wood that was so famous, it was responsible for the naming of an entire nation. When Portuguese ships discovered the trees on the coast of South America, they found that the wood yielded a red dye—which made for a very valuable and lucrative trading commodity. They named the tree pau brasil, the term pau meaning wood, and brasil meaning red/ember-like. Such a vigourous trade resulted from this wood that early sailors and merchants referred to the land itself as Terra do Brasil, or simply, the “Land of Brazil”—and the name stuck.

Brazilwood is also known as “Pernambuco” to bow-makers. With Brazilwood already at a historically depleted level from the exploitation for its dye wood, today’s global demand for violin bows have pushed the tree species to dangerously low levels in its natural range. There’s no other known wood that matches Brazilwood’s quality and acoustic properties in bow-making, creating a dilemma for bow-makers.

Some common uses for Brazilwood include: stringed instrument bows (violin, viola, cello, etc.), veneers, inlay, carvings, and turned objects.

Related Species:

Brown Ebony (Caesalpinia paraguariensis)

Chakte Viga (Caesalpinia platyloba)

Related Articles:

None available.

Scans/Pictures: There are currently no pictures of this exact wood species, but a similar species within the Caesalpinia genus is being substituted (C. platyloba). If you’d like to contribute a wood sample of this specific species to be scanned, (even small pieces of veneer can be sent), please use the contact form.