Description

Meranti Wood Properties, Pros & Cons
Color: Depending on the type, Meranti can be light red or dark red (heartwood) and has a lighter sapwood, but the dark reddish wood with white resin streaks is the most common.
Grain: Meranti wood grain is normally straight but can also be interlocked and has a coarse texture with a low natural lustre.
Endgrain: It is rather easy to identify Meranti wood because of its porous end-grain, having large or very large pores in no fixed arrangement.
Resistance & Durability: Meranti is generally soft or medium hard and rated as moderately durable. It has decent resistance to decay but is prone to insect attack, bugs and marine borders. The wood has average hardness and is relatively stable.
Workability: The best thing about Meranti is that it is easy to work with both hands and machines. The wood glues, stains, paints and finishes well. It is also easy to nail and has good sticking properties. However, the presence of interlocked grain can sometimes lead to troubles during planing. Some species having a little silica content can cause a blunting effect on woodworking tools. Also, Meranti is known to be poorly responsive to steam-bending.
Drying: Meranti is reported to dry easily and rapidly. In just about 2 to 3 months, the moisture content in wood can reduce from 60 per cent to 18 per cent when kept in the open air under covers. It undergoes littl