Types of Wood and Their Characteristics and Benefits

Kistang - Nature always has the resources needed by humans. Natural resources in each country must have differences because each resource adapts to the existing climate.

Types of Wood and Their Characteristics and Benefits

There are many resources in Indonesia, ranging from flora, fauna, forests, seas, mines, and others. Especially the resources in the forest. Forests have very many and varied trees. These trees can certainly be used as wood for human needs. To get wood from trees, you can't just cut it down. The lumberjack must select old trees to cut down and collect the wood. Then the wood can be used as human needs such as furniture and others.

Each wood has its own character. To make wood into a useful object, of course, it must be seen first from its characteristics. If the characteristics match then it can be used as the object we want. This book is prepared with the hope that it can be an impetus for the development of wooden structures, not only for low-rise buildings, but also for medium-rise buildings.

Types of Wood and Their Characteristics and Benefits

Here are some types of wood, characteristics, and benefits of the wood.

Teak wood

Teak wood is a wood that is well known by many people. This wood has another term in English, namely, Tectona Grandis. Teak wood is found in many areas of the island of Java and the island of Kalimantan. Although teak trees exist in Kalimantan and Sumatra, they cannot grow optimally because the soil is not supportive. The soil content on the two islands has a high level of acidity. Teak wood is very reliable in the furniture industry. This wood can be considered as premium wood for the manufacture of home furniture.

To be used as a material for making furniture, teak wood is needed that has reached decades of age. This age factor makes the price of teak more expensive than other woods. Teak wood is durable to use for a long time compared to other woods, because this wood has natural oils in the wood in large quantities. Although this wood is great, it is not suitable when painted using bright colors. When this is done, natural oils will arise which leave yellowish stains on the furniture.

This teak wood is very suitable to be used as furniture. The only thing to pay attention to is the final paint that should not use light colors. Usually people who have teak wood furniture will not change the color of the wood. Most use natural colors, this color will give the impression of natural wood strokes and have aesthetic value.

This teak wood has several advantages such as:

1. Strong and durable
2. Resistant in various weather
3. Have good fiber
4. Not easy to shrink
5. Not easy to mold.

There are also some disadvantages of teak such as:

• High price
• Can't use light colored endings
• Has a large wooden center point.

 

Sungkai Wood

Sungkai wood is generally light in color, but on the edges of the wood it has a lighter color. This wood also has a rough surface, this wood is not as smooth as teak and others. Even if you try to sand it, the wood still feels rough.

This wood grain has a strong and good character. This wood is suitable for making furniture with natural colors. Do not use solid colors on this wood if you want maximum results. Just use another wood if you want to change to a solid color.

Sungkai wood is usually also used as furniture. This wood is usually used as a material for making windows, doors, and also roof frames. This wood is also used for the manufacture of veneers or wood veneers. The purpose of making veneers is to help the final process of making wood to be more even and get good results.

Sungkai wood is not suitable for use as outdoor furniture such as garden tables, swings, and garden chairs. This wood does not have a strong character when exposed to the sun and rain for a long time. Even with pest attack this wood can become soft. To have this wood, you must pay attention to small things around the wood so that the wood can last a long time.

As for some of the advantages of sungkai wood:

1. The grain on the wood stands out, making it suitable for use as minimalist furniture;
2. The price of this wood is cheaper than teak and mahogany;
3. It is very suitable if using natural colors. 

There are also some disadvantages of this sungkai wood:

• Not suitable for outdoor furniture;
• Not suitable for paint finishes with solid colors;
• The wood surface feels rough;
• Not as strong as teak and mahogany.

Mahogany

Mahogany wood is one of the raw materials for making furniture in Jepara. This wood is often even exported abroad, especially countries in Europe. Furniture craftsmen in Jepara mostly make this wood for export abroad.

Although mahogany is not as strong as teak, mahogany has a finer grain. This wood is softer and easier to shape and carve. In addition, this wood has fine pores, so the resulting product is also smooth. The color of this wood is slightly reddish on the inside, and dark brown on the outside.

The diameters of mahogany and teak are almost the same, but mahogany has a cheaper price, but not in the process. This has many causes. First, if you want to use mahogany as a raw material for making furniture, you have to choose wood with a diameter of more than 30 cm. Then, this wood is easy to shrink and can be attacked by pests.

Second, this wood is not as hard as teak. This makes them susceptible to pests. Before processing, mahogany wood will usually be soaked in anti-pest liquid to make it more durable. However, there are also craftsmen who boil this wood first until there are absolutely no pests. This process affects the final cost.

As for some of the advantages of this mahogany wood:

1. Cheaper price than teak;
2. Can make the final paint a solid color because the natural oil content in mahogany is only a little;
3. This wood has a light character.

There are also disadvantages that mahogany wood has, such as:

• The fibers are good, but not as strong as teak;
• Easily attacked by pests if not coated with anti-pest liquid.

Trembesi Wood

This trembesi wood has good strokes like teak wood. There is an elegant impression that comes from the strokes. When still in the form of a tree this wood is very strong against extreme weather. But not again after he was turned into wood. Trembesi wood is not strong in extreme weather anymore.

The wood is more suitable for use as indoor products where there are no construction joints and solid designs. This wood is also usually used as a shade on the road. Although this wood is not resistant to extreme weather, it can still be used for road shading.

Trembesi wood has a faster growth than other trees. Trembesi wood is often found in large forms. This wood is used for furniture whose manufacture supports the strength of the product itself, such as the manufacture of solid tables.

There are several advantages to trembesi wood such as:

1. Nice wood grain, similar to teak;
2. Suitable for making furniture in large sizes;
3. Suitable for making large sculptures.

There are also some drawbacks to trembesi wood such as:

• Not very strong wood;
• This wood is easily attacked by pests;
• Not recommended for outdoor use.

Mindi Wood

This mindi can also be used as a raw material for making furniture in Jepara. The character is quite hard, but not as hard as mahogany and teak wood. This wood is prone to breakage, therefore its use must be ensured in a dry state.

The strokes on this mindi wood fiber are quite good. However, the wood grain is not as strong as teak. If you want it to be stronger, it must be coated with anti-pest liquid so that it does not become damaged by pest attacks. This wood has a lot of demand for veneers. The price is also competitive with mahogany wood.

There are several advantages to this mindi wood, such as:

1. One of the woods that has good fiber;
2. Suitable for making minimalist furniture with natural colors.

Then there are also disadvantages such as:

• The fibers are not very strong, so they break easily;
• This wood is very easy to bend;
• Easily attacked by pests because it is not strong;
• Not suitable for outdoor use.

Pine Wood

Pine wood is one of the woods that also has good fiber. The fibers stand out clearly. This wood is suitable for use as raw material for furniture because it will show its aesthetic value from the strokes of the fibers. The resistance of this wood is similar to that of teak which has natural oils to avoid pests.

Protected from pests does not mean this wood is as strong as teak. This wood is quite soft and breaks easily if used to make small furniture. There are a lot of natural oils in this pine wood, so it takes a long time if you want to give a final color that produces maximum results. Wait until the wood is completely dry.

As for some of the advantages of this pine wood:

1. Has good fiber strokes;
2. Resistant to pests due to the abundance of natural oils in pine wood;
3. Relatively cheap price.

There are also some drawbacks to pine wood:

• Wood fiber is also classified as less strong;
• This high oil content takes a long time to give this wood a final color.

Meranti Wood

Meranti wood is usually used as a raw material for making buildings. Usually this wood material can be used to build houses, cafes, offices, restaurants, and schools. Not only large buildings, meranti wood can also be used to make beds, tables, chairs, and others.

This wood gives a natural impression. The conveniences obtained in making this wood are various, such as easy to design with many forms, and also easy if you want to make changes in building design. This wood is flexible and resistant to earthquakes, it is even called termite-resistant wood.

Meranti has several characteristics, ranging from the texture to the uniformity of size in the wood cells. This wood is characterized by unclear wood growth rings, mixed wood vessels, single and double radial distributions. But it doesn't have a year circle, so it has an even texture. These fibers include good fibers and are not easily broken.

There are several advantages to meranti wood such as:

1. Meranti wood is easy to dry;
2. Meranti wood is durable and long lasting because it is termite resistant;
3. Suitable as a building construction raw material.

There are also some disadvantages of meranti wood:

• The texture is rough and indistinct;
• The price of meranti wood is quite expensive.

Sandalwood

This sandalwood has the Latin name Santalum Album L. The sandalwood tree is grown from East Nusa Tenggara and West Southeast Maluku Regency. At this time sandalwood trees have spread to various regions in Indonesia including, Bali, Sulawesi, East Java, Maluku, Sumba, Flores, Rote and others.

This wood has a fragrant aroma. This is because the wood contains coconut milk compounds in the stems and roots. The content of such compounds is usually used for cosmetic and pharmaceutical raw materials.

Sandalwood is not only used as a raw material for carving and furniture products. However, because of its distinctive aroma, this wood is also used as spices, incense ingredients, keris sheaths, aromatherapy, and mixtures for perfumes. Even sandalwood can also be used as raw material for herbal medicines which are processed on the skin, wood, and oil of sandalwood.

There are several advantages of sandalwood:

1. Has a distinctive fragrant aroma;
2. Can be used as raw material for cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries;
3. Spread to many areas in Indonesia.

There are also drawbacks to sandalwood:

• It has many fans and is often used as a raw material for incense, so the price is expensive.

Merbau Wood

Merbau wood is processed from the merbau tree. This tree is spread in several areas including, Kalimantan, Java, Sulawesi, Maluku, and also Papua. This merbau tree can also grow to a height of 50 meters.

The character on this wood has a yellow-brown, reddish-brown color, and also a little black. The colors on this merbau wood are slightly similar to teak wood. This can be used as an alternative as a substitute for teak wood.

This wood has a fairly high level of hardness. Even this merbau wood is classified as a heavy wood, so it can be used for various purposes. Production using merbau wood includes building houses, making door and window frames, making poles, and making bridges.

There are several advantages that merbau wood has, such as:

1. The wood hardness level is quite high;
2. Can be used to make various kinds of needs;
3. Has a cheaper price than teak;
4. This wood is termite and mildew resistant.

There are also some disadvantages of merbau wood such as:

• Merbau wood processing is quite difficult;
• Merbau wood will be damaged if it is wrong in terms of processing.

Those are some types of wood that are often used with the best quality along with their characteristics, hopefully it will be useful and thank you for visiting our blog

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