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DEFINITION OF RUBBERWOOD
What is rubberwood?
• Rubberwood is a hardwood from the maple family of woods
• Rubberwood has very little tendency to warp or crack
• Rubberwood-Eco Friendly!
Rubberwood is often the most misunderstood species of wood in the furniture industry. The name
rubberwood invokes a variety of misconceptions as to it’s features and to it’s durability. Rubberwood
(also called Parawood in Thailand) is the standard common name for the timber of Hevea
brasiliensis.
In fact, rubberwood is one of the more durable lumbers used in the manufacturing of today’s home
furnishings. As a member of the maple 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.
Like maple, rubberwood is a sap producing species. In the case of maple, it is sap; in the case of
rubberwood, it is latex. Rubberwood produces all the latex used in the world for all rubber based
products.
There is one more important feature of rubberwood that is very important in today’s world.
Rubberwood is the most ecologically “friendly” lumber used in today’s furniture industry. After the
economic life of the rubber tree, which is generally 26-30 years, the latex yields become extremely
low and the planters then fell the rubber trees and plant new ones. So, unlike other woods that are
cut down for the sole purpose of producing furniture, rubberwood is used only after it completes it’s
latex producing cycle and dies. This wood is therefore eco-friendly in the sense that we are now
using what was going as waste.
Do not mistake the name rubberwood when it comes to its quality features.
Properties of Rubberwood:
· Density (kg/M3 at 16% MC ---------------------------- 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
As can be seen, these properties compare well with those of conventional hardwoods
. Thus we have the ideal substitute with the major difference that Rubberwood
is cheaper, more plentiful
and Eco-Friendly.
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