Kembang semangkok |
The timber is soft to moderately soft and light to moderately heavy with a density of 515-755 kg/m3 air dry. It is classified under Light Hardwood in Malaysia.The timber is moderately durable under exposed conditions. The sapwood appears to be susceptible to blue stain fungal infection and to powder-post beetle attacks. The timber is very easily treated with preservatives.Texture is slightly coarse and uneven, due to the broad rays and wide layers of parenchyma. Grain is straight or shallowly interlocked.The timber falls into Strength Group C. It is easy to resaw and cross-cut despite its earlier reputation as a difficult timber to process. Planing is easy and the surface produced is generally smooth, although occasionally some pick-up of grain has been noted in radially sawn material. Despite its good working properties, the siliceous nature of the timber may, during sawing, have an abrasive effect on the saw teeth, producing rapid blunting of cutting edges and heating of the saw. Thus, it is advisable to process the timber of kembang semangkok, whenever practicable, in the green condition as it is then appreciably easier to work. The machining properties can also be improved by using saw teeth tipped with carborundum steel. The log can be easily peeled to various thicknesses without any form of pretreatment as the presence of silica deposits in wood is of much less importance in the rotary peeling with the knife edge tending to push the silica particles to one side thereby reducing the effect of abrasion.The nailing property is rated as good.The timber seasons fairly rapidly with only very slight degrade. The timber is prone to stain and slight end-checking; splitting has also been noted during drying. 13 mm thick boards take approximately 2 months to air dry, while 38 mm thick boards take 3 months.Kiln Schedule H is recommended. The timber kiln-dries very well without any seasoning degrade but is prone to mould and blue-stain attacks. 25 mm thick boards take approximately 5 days to kiln-dry from 50 to 10% moisture content.Shrinkage is fairly high, with radial shrinkage averaging 1.2% and tangential shrinkage averaging 3%.
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