 Canarywood (Centrolobium spp.)
|
Common Name(s): Canarywood, Canary Scientific Name: Centrolobium spp. Distribution: South America (from Panama down to southern Brazil) Tree Size: 100 ft (30 m) tall, 2-3 ft (.6-1.0 m) trunk diameter Average Dried Weight: 50 lbs/ft3 (795 kg/m3) Hardness: 1,340 lbf (5,960 N) Rupture Strength: 17,900 lbf/in2 (123,450 kPa) Elastic Strength: 2,285,000 lbf/in2 (15,760 MPa) Crushing Strength: 9,550 lbf/in2 (65.9 MPa) Shrinkage: Radial: 2.4%, Tangential: 5.6%, Volumetric: 8.4%, T/R Ratio: 2.3 |
Color/Appearance: Heartwood color can vary a fair amount, from a pale yellow-orange to a darker reddish brown, usually with darker streaks throughout. The color tends to darken with age: see the article Preventing Color Changes in Exotic Woods for more information.
Grain/Pore: Has a medium texture and small pores. The grain is typically straight, but can be irregular or wild on some pieces.
Endgrain: Diffuse-porous; medium pores in no specific arrangement; solitary and radial multiples of 2-3; mineral/gum deposits occasionally present; growth rings indistinct; rays not visible without lens; parenchyma varies depending on species: can be vasicentric, aliform, and confluent.
Durability: Rated as very durable in regard to decay resistance, as well as being resistant to termite and marine borer attack.
Workability: Easy to work with both hand and machine tools, though some tearout can occur during planing on pieces with wild or irregular grain. Turns, glues and finishes well.
Scent: Canarywood has a distinct scent when being worked.
Safety: There have been no adverse health effects associated with Canarywood. See the articles Wood Allergies and Toxicity and Wood Dust Safety for more information.
Price/Availability: Typically priced in the moderate to high range. Somewhat inexpensive for an import, likely to be in the neighborhood of other mid-priced imports such as Bloodwood or Chechen.
Comments: Some pieces of Canarywood can be almost rainbow colored—with dark red streaks, along with the natural orange, yellow, and brown coloration.
Canarywood is said to have good acoustic properties, and is sometimes used for speaker enclosures and entertainment system cabinets. Some other common uses for Canarywood include: construction lumber, railroad crossties, flooring, veneers, boat-building, furniture, cabinetry, and turned items.
None available.
Scans/Pictures: A special thanks to Justin Holden for providing the wood sample of this wood species.
|
Canarywood (sanded) |
 Canarywood (sealed) |
 Canarywood (endgrain) |
 Canarywood (endgrain 10x) |
 Canarywood (flatsawn) |
March 8th, 2011 at 4:59 pm
I like working with this wood. I have been cutting it with a scroll saw. It cuts and finishes very well. I have cut fretwork butterflies from 1/4″ thickness and fretwork crosses from 3/4″ thickness. The rainbow colored makes great butterflies. The only problem I have with this wood is I have to wash all the sawdust off my bare skin about every 30 minutes because it causes me to itch very much. This is the only wood I have used so far that has caused this problem.
January 27th, 2012 at 8:57 am
I have been given two canary wood planks, 2″ x 6″ x 72″. They have been planed and appeared to have been kiln dried. I was planning on making a xylophone, and was wondering if this wood would be a good choice for the note bars (1 3/16″ x 5/8″ x various lengths).
Sincerely,
Robert
January 28th, 2012 at 9:16 pm
Robert, I actually have a funny story about this subject: I was making bowed psalteries (www.apsimplepsaltery.com) and by accident I knocked some thin strips of Canarywood on the concrete floor, and remarked at how acoustically-pleasing the sound was.
I guess I don’t have any official way of measuring it, but I consider Canarywood to be a decent tonewood; very similar to Padauk to my ears.