Summary of robinia wood properties
Curious about robinia wood properties? More information below:
| Other names: | 1. Acacia (Netherlands), falsche Akazie, Schotendorn (Germany), faxua acacia, robinier (France), robinia (Britain). 2. American chestnut (Netherlands), black locust (United States). |
| Botanical name: | 1. Robinia pseudoacacia L. |
| Family: | Leguminosae. |
| Growth area: | 1. North America, planted in Europe, Asia, North Africa and New Zealand. The wood used with us comes mainly from plantings (±1950) from Hungary and Romania. |
| Tree description: | Height maximum 25-30m. The straight, often twisted or grooved trunk has an average trunk diameter of 0.6(-0.9)m. The tree tends to branch out just above the ground, giving a short branchless trunk and limiting the deliverable size. |
| Supply: | Sawn timber and edged timber. Robinia is available in lengths of up to about 2.5m. |
| Wood description: | Colour of the heartwood is light yellow-green to brown-green, turning golden brown after exposure to light. The heartwood contrasts sharply with the approximately 10-20 mm wide grey-yellow sapwood. Dark veins and streaks may occur in the wood of older trees, limiting its use for decorative applications. Robinia is ring-pored and this gives a distinctive pattern on the cut surface. Streaming changes the colour from light yellow-brown to dark brown. Robinia has a high tannin content, which means that metals corrode quickly in contact with robinia. Tests have shown that robinia absorbs water relatively slowly and releases water relatively quickly. For facade joinery, this means that the wood remains dry. |
| Wood type: | hardwood |
| Thread: | Mostly straight. |
| Nerf: | Moderately coarse to coarse. |
| Volumetric mass: | 1. (540-)720-740-800(-860) kg/m3 at 12% moisture content, fresh 900-1200kg/m3. |
| Works: | Medium to large |
| Drying: | Slow. Dry carefully due to tendency to deform. |
| Workability: | Good. There is noticeable difference in machining the soft earlywood and hard latewood. Finger-joined/laminated/repaired robinia for frames can be machined quite well, because of the repairs in it, transparent finishing is not possible. Robinia can be turned and polished well. Wood dust from fresh robinia can irritate the mucous membranes of sensitive people. |
| Nailing and screwing: | Pre-drilling recommended. Due to the high tannin content in robinia (up to 26%), stainless steel joining material is recommended for durable work in outdoor applications. Iron in contact with wet robinia causes bluish-black discolouration and light brown discolouration in contact with copper or brass. |
| Adhesives: | Good. |
| Bend: | Very good. |
| Surface finish: | Good with alkyd resin and water-based paints, but staining can cause problems |
| Strength class: | Robinia from Hungary quality class 3/ European A/NEN 5493 is classified in strength class D30 (NEN 6760) |
| Impregnability: | Heartwood 4. Sapwood 1. |
| Applications: | Structural timber, laminated beams, laminated window frames, laminated switchblocks, coachbuilding, hydraulic engineering, agriculture and horticulture, wine barrels, garden and street furniture, decking, dowels, wagon trees, spokes, rims and more. |
Source of this overview of robinia wood properties: www.centrum-hout.nl
