# anybody seen / heard of this wood before?



## phinds (Jun 7, 2016)

One of the pieces in the recent batch of stuff I bought for David Clark is "Brazil nut wood" (Bertholletia excelsa).

It's really nice and I'm puzzled as to why I haven't run into it before. It's very heavy but there are other heavy woods imported from South American and this is prettier than many of them and the tree gets big so there must be a lot of lumber, thus my puzzlement. I'm wondering if I've just missed it somehow and others are more familiar w/ it.

Here are a few of the 70 common names my database lists:
almendra (venezuela) = almond
almendro (colombia) = almond
brazil nut (brazil)
castanha (brazil)
para-nut (brazil)
tetoka (surinam)
yubia (venezuela)

This piece is a beautiful yellow, really heavy (66lbs/cuft, so just over the point of sinking in water), and slightly grainy but looks like it would take a great polish, particularly with a filler.

Here's are excepts from the vendor's blurb:

It is from the same tree that produces the Brazil Nut (Bertholletia excelsa). Trees grow to a height of 160 ft. and diameters of 3-6 ft. These are some of the largest trees in the Amazon, living for 500 to 1,000 years. Brazil Nut wood is extremely dense and can be used for a variety of projects from furniture, boxes, instruments to flooring and more! It is moderately smooth grained and can take a smooth natural polish. Interlocked grain produces ribbon figure on rift and quarter sawn boards.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Kevin (Jun 7, 2016)

That second picture reminds me of a wood I have but which is darker. On the tip of my tongue. I have some out there - splinters come off real easy and the wood is oily. But that wood doesn't look oily. 

When I was a kid they weren't called Brazil nuts.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Nature Man (Jun 7, 2016)

I've not seen anybody talk about it before. I'll bet it's nice to work with, but never seen it for sale. Chuck


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## phinds (Jun 7, 2016)

Kevin said:


> That second picture reminds me of a wood I have but which is darker. On the tip of my tongue. I have some out there - splinters come off real easy and the wood is oily. But that wood doesn't look oily.


Actually, it does feel just slightly oily and those nuts sure do have a lot of oil in them. On the other hand, this wood doesn't seem splintery at all, based on the little handling I've give it. Out of this batch, lacewood was the one I had to watch out for.



> When I was a kid they weren't called Brazil nuts.


True dat!  My dad refused to call them "brazil nuts" right up to a few years ago when he died at 92 and certainly WAY beyond when it became politically incorrect to use the former name.

Reactions: Like 1


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## bench1holio (Jun 7, 2016)

Kevin said:


> When I was a kid they weren't called Brazil nuts.



Yeah but back then cars were called "horse and cart"!

Reactions: Funny 3


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## DKMD (Jun 7, 2016)

I've never seen the wood, but I'd guess it's dimensionally unstable and/or impossible to dry consistently like a lot of fruiting trees. I would think anything that big and hard would be used for lumber if there was a reliable commercial process to dry it.

Pretty stuff!


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## phinds (Jun 7, 2016)

bench1holio said:


> Yeah but back then cars were called "horse and cart"!


Jeez, you had HORSES? Lucky bastard. We had to walk everywhere. And it was uphill in both directions.

Reactions: Like 1 | Funny 3


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## phinds (Jun 7, 2016)

DKMD said:


> I've never seen the wood, but I'd guess it's dimensionally unstable and/or impossible to dry consistently like a lot of fruiting trees. I would think anything that big and hard would be used for lumber if there was a reliable commercial process to dry it.
> 
> Pretty stuff!


Have to agree w/ you


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## NeilYeag (Jun 8, 2016)

Kevin said:


> That second picture reminds me of a wood I have but which is darker. On the tip of my tongue. I have some out there - splinters come off real easy and the wood is oily. But that wood doesn't look oily.
> 
> *When I was a kid they weren't called Bra*_zil nuts._



Ah, my father used to call them the same thing!!!!!!


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## Tony (Jun 8, 2016)

Kevin said:


> When I was a kid they weren't called Brazil nuts.



My father still does not call them Brazil nuts. In case y'all hadn't noticed, I'm not the most politically correct person and I am my father's son. Tony


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## Kevin (Jun 9, 2016)

Tony said:


> My father still does not call them Brazil nuts. In case y'all hadn't noticed, I'm not the most politically correct person and I am my father's son. Tony



Congoidial tetrapod digits?


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## Tony (Jun 9, 2016)

Kevin said:


> Congoidial tetrapod digits?



That would be the term, in slightly different words. Tony


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## barry richardson (Jun 9, 2016)

I bought some boards from the wood shop on the Naval Base in Puerto Rico maybe 25 years ago that looks just like that, and has the characteristics you describe. They were calling it "Brazilian Oak" a generic name I'm sure. I've never seen the wood since, till now perhaps... It was always kind of a mystery wood to me..... Made a dresser top from it.


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## phinds (Jun 9, 2016)

barry richardson said:


> I bought some boards from the wood shop on the Naval Base in Puerto Rico maybe 25 years ago that looks just like that, and has the characteristics you describe. They were calling it "Brazilian Oak" a generic name I'm sure. I've never seen the wood since, till now perhaps... It was always kind of a mystery wood to me..... Made a dresser top from it.


Do you still have the dresser? Pics?


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## duncsuss (Jun 9, 2016)

I read the entry for _Bertholletia excelsa _in Useful Woods of the World - the author reckoned it's somewhat bland, and has much greater economic value as a nut-bearing tree than it would have as lumber.


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## barry richardson (Jun 9, 2016)

phinds said:


> Do you still have the dresser? Pics?


Well.... it USED to look just like your wood.... I made the dresser over 20 years ago and the wood has darkened significantly, originally it was more blond like yours. I hadn't taken a close at it for a long time, it's been in a back bedroom, I really like the way it's aging.....

Reactions: Like 2 | Way Cool 1


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## phinds (Jun 9, 2016)

Nice pics. End grain rules out it being the same as this Brazil nut wood, but it's a good looking piece for sure.


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