I have always heard of mahogany and hardwood before, but today I found that there is a well-known type of wood among many woods - balsa. Balsa, as the name suggests, is a very light wood. Don't underestimate it, it is known as the smallest density wood in the world. Contrary to balsa, there is also the heaviest wood in the world. The editor thinks that if they apply for the Guinness Book of Records, it is estimated that they have already dominated one side.
Well, first of all, let's take a look at how sacred this balsa wood is.
Balsa, native to South America and the West Indies, is called "Balsa" by the locals, and is the only evergreen medium tree in the Kapok family and the genus Balsa.
Characteristics of balsa wood
Balsa is one of the fastest growing tree species in the world. It can grow to 5-6 meters in a year and have a diameter of 5-13 cm. A 10-year-old balsa tree can be as high as 16 meters and 50-60 centimeters in diameter. Due to the rapid turnover of cells and tissues in the body, all parts of the plant are exceptionally soft and elastic. The trunk is tall and straight, and the bark is brown. The leaves are broad and heart-shaped and grow alternately on the branches. Flowers are large, yellow-white in color, and are born in the upper canopy. An oblong capsule with cottony tufts inside, consisting of five fruit petals. The seeds are obovate, light red or brown, and densely hairy outside, like cotton seeds.
Balsa is also the lowest density wood in the world, with a density of about 0.12g/cm3. The wood has straight grain, fine and uniform structure, very light and soft, so its strength and impact toughness are very low, and it is easy to process. However, if the planer is not sharp, the board surface is prone to hair.
A survey has shown that an adult can carry a balsa wood that is 8 times larger than himself, and a balsa board can be easily lifted by a child.
Advantages and Applications
The advantages of balsa wood are small in density and light in weight, suitable for making balsa sailboats, balsa surfboards, boat hulls, full-size aircraft, land vehicles, racing cars, etc.
The floor of the Corvette car on the 50th anniversary of the birth of Chevrolet sports car is made of balsa (white wood) wood core, and the internal honeycomb structure not only effectively reduces the vibration and noise of the car, but also Also enhances the strength of the car floor.
Balsa is easy to process and is a good material for making model simulation sculptures, bird chew toys, puzzle boards, and military models.
Balsa has the advantages of good stability, uniform material and low thermal conductivity, so it is often used as an insulating material. Light wood has a good sound insulation effect and is one of the main materials for the production of modern sound insulation panels. It is also made into room doors to play a good sound insulation effect. The balsa wood is soft, easy to color, affordable, and has the characteristics of not eating insects and ants, so it is often used in home decoration.
Light, soft and elastic, balsa wood is used less in the production of furniture.
Richard Blumer (Riccardo Blumer, Italian architect, furniture designer), made a chair with a weight of only 1300 grams from balsa (white wood), called "Laleggera" chair. The chair, which won the Compass od'Oro in 1998, shows the effect of combining natural and artificial materials.
The furniture made of balsa looks the same as solid wood on the surface, but its price advantage is really exciting. The editor is very much looking forward to new breakthroughs in the production process of balsa, and it is more widely used in the furniture industry.
Next, let's take a look at what is known as the heaviest wood in the world.
Many people think that the heaviest wood is the iron tree. Its name sounds powerful and strong. If it does not dominate, who will dominate? But this is not the case. The heaviest wood in the world should be serpentine, which is the world's heaviest wood in the world.
The characteristics of serpentine wood
Serpentine is also known as snake mulberry, Moraceae (Morace), snake mulberry (Piratinera). Scientific name Piratinea quianensis, trade names Snakewood, Letterwood.
Small canopy tree, no buttresses, 25m high, 15m trunk, 30-50 cm in diameter. This tree species is a rare and endangered protected plant in the world and is one of the most precious woods in the world. Sparse in number, scattered in the primitive jungles near the Amazon River Basin in South America, it is extremely difficult to harvest. I heard that the collection of snakewood requires 5-8 local indigenous people to go into the mountains to find them. After they are found, they are carefully marked, and then they are cut down and transported together.
The heartwood and sapwood of serpentine wood are obviously different, the heartwood is dark reddish brown, the sapwood is wide, and the sapwood is yellowish white. Strong luster, fine structure, straight texture. Diffuse-porous wood, the diameter of the catheter is thin, the parenchyma is near-tubular, and the wood rays are thin. The wood is very heavy and high in strength, with an air-dry density of 1.20-1.36g/cm3, making it the densest wood in the world.
The density of serpentine wood early takes advantage of its hardness and weight. It is said that an adult takes an electric planer to process serpentine wood, and it takes half a day to plan a little sawdust. And normal wood processing plants are unwilling to take up the work of cutting snakewood.
Features and Applications
Serpentine wood has a unique pattern, these dark patterns are formed by resin, and the decorative effect is excellent, which is not comparable to ordinary tree patterns.
The presidential suite of Hong Kong Peninsula Hotel, one of the top ten hotels in the world, and the mansion of Bill Gates, the world's richest man, have used serpentine wood for interior decoration.
Serpentine heartwood is extremely resistant to rot, moth-eaten, smooth cut surface and good polishability.
The furniture made of serpentine wood is usually defined as high-end artwork, which is collected by furniture collectors at home and abroad. Due to the smooth surface of snake wood, the brightness after painting is better, and it is also very beautiful to directly polish and wax without painting.
The serpentine tree stem is straight, and there is no defect of "ten sandalwood and nine empty", which is very suitable for making various items.
Large areas of serpentine wood are usually used to make furniture, arts and crafts, interior decoration, etc. But there are also some European and American professional wood companies that sell these small pieces of wood, which are very popular in the handicraft industry. Precision manufacturing techniques are essential when working with this premium material to maximize its natural beauty and minimize waste.
The trees are scarce, and the heartwood yield is only about 10%, so serpentine wood is very expensive.
In Japan and Korea, serpentine is known as the "diamond of wood". It is said that an ordinary serpentine wooden crutch can be purchased in Japan for 400,000 yen (approximately RMB: 25,000 yuan/piece). Therefore, serpentine wood is also the heart of the rich and a symbol of wealth. Snakewood crutches, snakewood golf clubs, etc. have become new means of showing off their wealth.
Serpentine wood has high density, strong hardness, and unique texture, which is suitable for making various musical instruments.
Baroque bows made of serpentine wood are expensive in the European and American markets, with prices as high as $3,100.