Species data
Canarywood
Centrolobium spp. - a hardwood from south America (Panama to southern Brazil). Also sold as canary.
Properties at a glance
| Janka hardness | 1,520 lbf |
| Stiffness (MOE) | 2,164,000 psi |
| Specific gravity | 0.83 |
| Density | 51.8 lb/ft3 (830 kg/m3) |
| Weight per board foot | 4.32 lb |
| Shrinkage, green to oven-dry | 5.6% tangential / 2.4% radial |
| Indicative price | $10.00 per board foot (estimated) |
Values are at about 12% moisture content. Density is specific gravity times 62.4; a board foot is one twelfth of a cubic foot, so weight per board foot is that density divided by twelve. Anything marked estimated is our own figure, not a measured one.
How Canarywood compares
Measured against the 113 solid woods in this database: it is harder than 68% of them, heavier than 80%, and stiffer than 83%.
What that means in the shop
A 4/4 board 8 inches wide and 8 feet long is 5.33 board feet, so in Canarywood it weighs about 23.0 lb. A stack of ten is 230 lb - worth knowing before you load a rack or a car.
Against red oak, the trade's usual yardstick at 1,220 lbf, Canarywood is about 1.2x as hard and 1.19x as heavy.
Its shrinkage is 5.6% tangential against 2.4% radial, a ratio of 2.3 to 1. The wider that ratio, the more unevenly a flatsawn board moves across its width as humidity changes, and the more it wants to cup; anything near or above 2 to 1 is worth quartersawing or restraining for panels and wide tops. This one sits in that range.
Woods of similar hardness
Closest to Canarywood on hardness in this database: Pin Oak (1,500 lbf), Afrormosia (1,570 lbf), Honey Locust (1,580 lbf), Willow Oak (1,460 lbf). Similar hardness does not mean similar behaviour - check density and movement before substituting one for another.
Working with it
Workability. Hand and machine tools both manage it well, though wild or irregular grain may tear out
Durability. Very durable; shrugs off marine borers, termites and rot
Typical uses. construction lumber, railroad ties, flooring, veneer, boatbuilding, furniture, cabinetry, turned objects.
Related calculators
Sources
MOE, SG (12% MC), Janka and shrinkage from The Wood Database (cites USDA FPL Wood Handbook). Not in the FPL/Hoadley dimensional-change table, so movement coefficients are omitted. Uses, region, durability, workability summarized from The Wood Database. Price indicative.
These calculators are for planning and estimation. Engineering results (shelf sag, wood movement) use published average material properties; real boards vary by grade, grain, moisture and defects. Verify load-bearing designs with a professional.