Merbau Properties

Botanical Name:
- Intsia spp

Other names:
- Ipil
- Kwila
- Anglai

Origin:
Merbau grows in the Indo Malayan region, and also in Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and many Pacific islands of the West. "Merbau" is the term for this wood Malays, In Papua New Guinea known as "Kwila".

Appearances
When freshly cut, the heart of merbau wood is yellowish brown to orange color, but then darkens to brown or red brown, rough fiber texture varies from direct inter lokecked wood or corrugated, one characteristic of this wood is that the board may be yellow "flecking "in the pores, thus, when finished, the wood will appear almost flecked with gold.

Properties
Merbau has a durable class equivalent grade teak and teak strong above,
dimensional stability is very good and very resistant to termites and wood powder.

Workability
Sawed / Machining; sawmill difficult as clogs saw teeth and dulls cutting edges, carbide tooling recommended.
Sanding: Sands satisfactorily
Nailing: Good holding ability
Finishing: Wood stains black in contact with metallic iron or moisture.

Use
The majority of merbau wood used for doors, furniture, floors, good joinery, decorative turnery, making furniture, musical instruments, and special wood dyes are also items.The wood is also a dye sources.