Greenheart: A Brief Guide To This Popular Construction Hardwood
What is Greenheart?
Greenheart (Ocotea rodiei) is a magnificent hardwood sourced in South America, specifically Guyana, Surinam, Brazil and Venezuela. Greenheart is one of the densest and strongest hardwoods in nature, approximately twice as hard as European Oak. It ranks on the strength testing spectrum as D70 E Oak for perfect sample tests at D30.
The Timber is generally 30/40m and the average diameter 1.00m trees. Greenheart wood comes from an evergreen tree with a fine and even texture, varying in colour including; yellow-green, golden-yellow, light olive and almost black.
The wood turns easily, and gives a good finish with wax, oil, or polish without the need of a filler. With a very low acid content, this hardwood has a low corrosive effect on nails, spikes and metal fastenings.
Due to it’s durability, greenheart is often used for sea defence purposes.
The Uses of Greenheart
Due to its high durability and marine borers, it is used extensively for sea defence work, as well as bridges, decking and heavy duty flooring. The stiffness makes it a quite remarkable wood often used in wooden fly casting rods and some laminated long bows
This hardwood is considered one of the best for construction, as it is one of the few timbers with a long lifespan when used for marine and outdoor projects, including groynes, piers, chemical vats and bridges.
The Challenges of Greenheart
Greenheart is best used by professionals for big projects, as opposed to DIY enthusiasts as it can be difficult to work due to its density, with a moderate to high blunting effect on cutters. This hardwood is very slow to air dry, with a tendency for ends to split, although warping is not serious.
Although uncommon, caution must be taken when working with Greenheart, due to observations that the wood can cause wheezing, cardiac and intestinal disorders, splinters that can go septic and severe throat irritation. For this reason, it is best used by professionals who have the right tools and expertise.
However, due to its strength and durability Greenheart is a fantastic hardwood for construction projects. With a unique acid complex it is resistant to fungi and insects, and has a low movement in length of 1%, compared to steel which is approximately 10%.
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WL West Timber is a family-owned sawmill & timber merchant in West Sussex with over 155 years’ industry experience. We provide a wide range of air-dried oak and kiln-dried oak timber products and supplies. We also build and install custom projects for our customers.
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