Merbau Wood ( Intsia Spp )

The Merbau is a large tree with an average height of 50’ feet tall. The merbautrunkcan grow up to more than 5’ feet wide, and grows with strong wide spreadingbuttresses. The Merbau Tree is a native tree to the Eastern South Asiaregions andcan be found in a lot of the countries in those areas, as well as in Australia too.

Merbau Botanical Name: Intsia spp.

Merbau Wood Origin Country: The merbau tree grows mostly in South-East Asia, in countries like India, Philippines, Indonesia and in many Pacific Islands. The Merbau Tree can be found also in Australia.

Other Merbau Species and Names: Some of other names of the Merbau tree include Intsia biuga, Intsia palembanica, Ipil (Philippine name) and Kwila.

Merbau Look and Color: The Merbau Hardwood color is pretty dark brown with reddish tones. While the sapwood of the merbau tree consists somehow whitish colors, the heartwood of the merbau tree is a lot darker with brown and red-brown colors. When first cut the merbau heartwood is a lot brighter with orange yellowish colors, but it gets the darker colors upon exposure and with time. Another interesting thing about the Merbau hardwood is that sometimes you might see golden-yellowish “flecks” on it, something that gives the merbau hardwood very beautiful and shiny look. Most of the Merbau Hardwood Flooring consists with medium to high variation in colors.

Merbau Hardwood Grain Texture: The Merbau Hardwood texture is mostly fairly coarse. Merbau hardwood usually has straight to slightly interlocked, wavy grain. Some of the merbau hardwood flooring boards have an attractive, ribbon figuring.

Merbau Hardwood Hardness and Strength: The Merbau is a very strong, hard wood. On the Janka Hardness Test, the merbau gets the score of 1925 which is 49% percent harder than the northern red oak hardwood. The Merbau also has an excellent Dimensional Stability to moisture with a score of 4.6 – 47% more stable than the red oak wood.

Merbau Uses on The Wood Industry: Tanks to its wonderful hardness and strength, and its durability to moisture, the Merbau Wood is being used in a lot of places in the wood industry. Today, we can find merbau furniture, merbau cabinets, merbau joinery, musical instruments made of merbau and of course Merbau Hardwood Flooring.