Rubberwood

Rubberwood is wood from the Pará rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis), often called the rubber tree. Rubberwood, also called parawood in Thailand, is used in high-end furniture as it is valued for its dense grain, attractive colour, minimal shrinkage, and acceptance of different finishes. It is also prized as an "environmentally friendly" wood, as it makes use of trees that have been cut down at the end of their latex-producing cycle. The older practice was to burn the "useless" tree.

It is one of the more durable hardwood lumbers used in the manufacturing of home furnishings of this decade. A member of the Euphorbiaceae family, rubberwood has a dense grain character that is easily controlled in the kiln drying process. Rubberwood has very little shrinkage making it one of the more stable construction materials available for furniture manufacturing. Rubberwood lumber takes easily many different types and colors of wood finishes such that rubberwood as used in furniture can mimic rosewood, or oak or other more expensive lumbers creating confusion in the identification of the type of wood used in the furniture.

Properties of Rubberwood:
Density (kg/m³ at 16°C) ---------------------------- 560-640 Tangential Shrinkage Coefficient (%) ------------- 1.2 Radical Shrinkage Coefficient (%) ----------------- 0.8 Hardness(N) ----------------------------------------------- 4,350 Static Bending, N/mm at 12% MC ------------------ 66 Modulus of elasticity,n/mm at 12%MC ------------ 9,700 Source: FRIM, Malaysia

Reference

* [http://www.greenlivingtips.com/articles/142/1/Sustainable-Rubberwood.html Sustainable Rubberwood]