Menu

Select Language:  

Print

SONOSISSOO (Dalbergia sissoo)

Trade Name

Sonosissoo

Scientific Name

Dalbergia sissoo Roxb.

Family

LEGUMINOSAE

Common Names

Du-khaek (Thailand); Pradu-khaek (Thailand); Sonowaseso (Indonesia); Sissou (Nepal); Sissoo (India); Sonosissoo (Indonesia)

Description Of The Tree

Botanical Description

A medium to large-sized tree of up to 30 m tall, bole often crooked and branchless for 3-10 m, with a diameter of up to 100 cm, and very often without buttresses. In drier area, the trees remain a comparatively small.

Natural Habitat

D. sissoo grows gregarious on well-drained colluvial and alluvial soils, often near rivers and streams up to 900 m altitude. Stands of Dalbergia trees have been depleted considerably all over the world.

Natural Distribution

D. sissoo occurs throughout sub-Himalayan tract, from the Indus to Assam. Planted trees are found in mainland South-East Asia, Java and Africa.

Plantations Available?

The tree has been extensively planted on many parts of India, and, on a much smaller scale in Java (Indonesia).

Non Timber Uses

Medium-weight to heavy hardwood. The specific gravity of Sissoo wood is 0.63-0.83 at air-dry condition.

Wood Identification

Anatomic Description Of Wood

Vessels per mm2 6 to 10 (medium). Wood diffuse porous. Occasionally vessels of two distinct diameter classes, wood not ring-porous. Resinous deposits in heartwood vessels. Tangential diameter of vessel lumina 200 micras or more (large). Axial parenchyma winged aliform (uni or bilateral winged). Axial parenchyma confluent. Occasionally axial parenchyma in marginal or in seemingly marginal bands. Axial parenchyma in discontinuous tangential lines. Rays storied. Rays more than 10 per mm (abundant). Rays 1 to 2 seriate.

  • Wood Macro Photo Tangential Plane
  • Wood Micro Photo Of Transversal Section

Availability

Cites Status

Unrestricted

General Wood Description

Odor

-

Color

Heartwood is golden brown to deep red-brown, often with darker streaks which giving rise to an attractive figure, distinctly demarcated from the whitish to yellowish or pale brown colored narrow sapwood.

Grain

Straight to shallow interlocked, but sometimes wavy.

Texture

Fine to moderately coarse.

Luster

-

Natural Durability

The wood is durable, resistant to dry-wood termites and very resistant to wood-rotting fungi. The sapwood, however, is easily susceptible to borers.

Natural durability index (1= Very high durability, 7=Vey low durability)

2

Internal Growth Stresses

-

Silica Content

Silica Content: -

Resistance To Impregnation

Varies from poor resistant (sapwood) to resistant (heartwood) to impregnation.

Wood Physical Properties

Basic Density or Specific Gravity (O.D. weight/vol. green) (g/cm³)

0.75

Air-dry Density (Weight and volume at 12%MC) (g/cm³)

0.85

Total shrinkage Tangential (Saturated to 0%MC) (%)

5.4

Total shrinkage Radial (Saturated to 0%MC) (%)

3.0

Drying Defects

Ease of Drying: Board can be fully kiln dried under moderately severe conditions with any slight tendency to twist readily eliminated by weighting and giving short steaming treatment after drying.Limited appraisal of 50 mm stock indicates satisfactory results will gener Drying Defects: 25 mm board:Kiln drying time from green to 12 % m.c. is about 4-5days, reduced to 2 days if preliminary air drying to 30%m.c. is undertaken. A short steaming treatment of 2-3 hours under weights is recommended at end of drying to relieve drying stresses

Dimensional stability ratio (Total Tangential Shrinkage %/Total Radial Shrinkage %)

1.8

Wood Chemical Properties

Wood Mechanical Properties

Bending Strength (MOR),12%MC (kgf/cm²)

971

Stiffness (MOE) 12%MC (kgf/cm²)

107367

Compression parallel to fiber 12%MC (kgf/cm²)

543

Workability

Sawing

Low, and it usually easier to saw and work with.

Rotary Veneer Cutting

Good and produce a handsome veneers.

Sliced Veneer

Good and produce a handsome veneers.

Blunting Effect

-

Machining

It becomes difficult if the grain is excessively interlocked.

Planing

It can be planed to a smooth surface easily.

Moulding

-

Turning

30

Boring

-

Mortising

-

Nailing

-

Gluing

No difficulties in gluing.

Sanding

It is usually easy to sanding.

Finishing

-

Staining

-

Coatings

-

Polishing

A very good polish, but filler is required.

Steam Bending

The wood is good for steam bending.

Response To Hand Tools

It easier to work with hand tools than sonokeling.

Substitute Species

Beech and maple wood.

REFERENCED USES

End Uses Summary

HOUSING GENERAL, joists, boards, flooring, parquet, panelling, FURNITURE AND CABINETS, luxury furniture, cabinets, PLYWOOD AND VENEER, Decorative veneer, TURNING, BENDING, TOOLS, tool handles, agricultural tools, CONTAINERS, truck flooring, NAVAL CONSTRUCTION, boat hulls, OTHER AND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, pipe, shoes, axle, yoke, wheel

General Housing
  • 10 - Silica in Timbers
Joists
  • 12 - Tropical timbers of the world. Part I-Tropical American Species
Boards
  • 13 - Dry kiln schedules for commercial woods. Temperate and tropical. Section III. Latin American (Mexico, Central, and South America) Woods–Conventional Temperatures
Flooring
  • 14 - Handbook of Hardwoods
Parquet
  • 15 - Empire Timbers
Paneling
  • 18 - W3TROPICOS Missouri Botanical Garden
Furniture Cabinets
  • 21 - Tropical timbers of the world. Part III-Southeast Asian and Oceanian Species.
Furniture, Luxury
  • 22 - Dry kiln schedules for commercial woods. Temperate and tropical. Section IV-Asian and Oceanian Woods
Cabinet
  • 24 - Empire Timbers
Panels, Veneers
  • 25 - Directory of Timber Trade Malaysia
Decorative veneer
  • 28 - Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries & Forest of Fiji
Turning
  • 30 - Embassy of Honduras in Japan
Bending
  • 35 - Embassy of Myanmar in Japan
Tools
  • 42 - Utilización Industrial de Nuevas Especies Forestales en el Perú.
Tool Handles
  • 43 - Maderas de Bolivia (Características y Usos de 55 Maderas Tropicales)
Agricultural Tools
  • 44 - Atlas of Peruvian Woods
Truck Flooring
  • 54 - Bulletin of the Government Forest Experiment Station N.157: Identification of Tropical Woods
Shipbuilding
  • 55 - Tropical Timber Atlas of Latin America
Boat Hulls
  • 57 - Estadísticas de Aprovechamiento, Exportación y comercialización Nacional de Productos Forestales
Other & Musical Instruments
  • 63 - Madeiras do Brazil II
Pipes
  • 69 -
Shoes
  • 70 - Proprietes physiques et mecaniques des bois tropicaux de l`union francaise
Axles
  • 73 - Handbook of Hardwoods
Yokes
  • 74 - World Timbers, Vol.2, North and South America
Wheels
  • 75 - Tropenholzer

Please Provide Information To View Producer Information

* Or, continue as guest