Among several quality woods native to Indonesia, merbau wood is one of the most popular types of wood for its look, function, to quality and strength. Merbau wood is widely available in Kalimantan, Maluku, Sumatra, East Nusa Tenggara, and Papua. Therefore, this wood has various local names, such as ipil, taritih, maharau, bau, sekka, doma, and others. Due to its hard nature, merbau is also known as ironwood in Maluku. Westerners know merbau wood in various terms, such as moluccan ironwood, iron kajoe, mirabow, moluks ijzerhout and so on. Want to know more about merbau wood? Here is the review of its important features.
Merbau Wood Characteristics
Merbau wood color is between gray-brown to blackish. There are also yellow-brown and reddish-brown ones. Merbau wood feels slippery when touched. The texture itself is coarse, with dominant straight fibers (although some are irregular). Merbau wood is very hard and heavy type of wood.
Merbau Wood Advantages and Disadvantages
Merbau wood is durable (class I-II), and strong (class I-(III)). In terms of level of use, merbau classified as level I, which the wood that can be used for heavy construction, in contact with moist soil, and exposed to direct outside air. Because of these characteristics, merbau is often used as an alternative to teak, which is increasingly protected (this can’t be separated from the color of merbau, which is similar to teak). Merbau is also known as wood with low shrinkage and low cracking power. Merbau is also known to be resistant to termites, fungi and marine borers.
Because ironwood is very hard and heavy, it requires special skills to process it. In other words, merbau is not suitable as a wood material for most people. In addition, in terms of price, for most people merbau is expensive.
Benefits of Merbau Wood
You can use merbau wood for all your structural needs, whether it’s outdoors, indoors, and even in water (fresh or salty). For example, you can choose it as a material for outdoor purposes such as gazebos, patios, garden or terrace furniture, and so on. Its smooth and elegant finishing look also makes merbau as the wood of choice for windows or doors. Merbau is also very popular as furniture, such as coffee tables, guest chairs, TV shelves, room partitions. If you want room floor that looks warm and homy, you can also choose merbau parquet flooring. In large construction, you can use it as a structure for houses, villas, harbor piles, bridges, and so on.
With these various advantages and benefits, merbau has always been a choice of building material or furniture. Currently, merbau trees have also been cultivated, in order to maintain their sustainability.
–sh
