COMPARO: Pls rank these hardwood according to durability.

**ano727** · November 10th, 2014 08:34 PM

Hi,

Am looking at various hardwood types for wood furnitures, and I don't know much about the various hardwood types, especially what is more durable and why some are selling more expensive than others.

Pls include the following and rank them based on your understanding either based on durability or value for money.

Narra, Rosewood, Yakal, Kamagong, Mahogany, Acacia, Tanguile, Teak, Molave, Mulawin, Oak, Pili, Gmelina, Lauan, Supa, etc.

Pls add others that you know.

Would you also have a personal recommendation among these various choices and why?

Thanks.

**number001** · November 11th, 2014 10:04 AM

Arranged from the toughest to the least.

Kamagong - this one is dark in color and shade. Quite tough. They use this on arnis, handle of tools, etc

Molave and Mulawin - both are tough. esp. Mulawin.

Narra - used on everything from furniture, door frame, solid door, flooring, etc... expensive. Contrary to what people think, narra is NOT immune from termite attacks.

Teak - this is not native to our country so it is imported. It is more expensive than narra. Supposedly immune to termite attack as it can be used outdoors.

Yakal - old spanish houses uses this before for their foundation. can used for door frames but it naturally develops surface "cracks" based on the its tree ring.

Mahogany - used on furnitures. Can't be used for flooring as it "moves" alot (dont know if it was properly kiln dried to start with)

Tanguile - can be used as furniture, door frame and solid wood doors. Used as a substiture for narra if price sensitive.

Lauan - its not that tough. I have been told its only something above coco lumber.

**lowslowbenz** · November 11th, 2014 04:56 PM

Narra for furniture, in and outdoors.

I used salvaged Tanguile wooden planks for our front fence in Cavite.

Wasn't cheap though ...

**Syuryuken** · November 11th, 2014 05:47 PM

Yung gmelina pag umabot pala ng 25 years namumula na at ang tigas

**Ry_Tower** · November 11th, 2014 06:05 PM

^ Yup, matigas din at hindi pa inaanay gemelina kapag tamang edad.

Toughest wood I know is the Iron wood or kamagong, mas matigas sa Ipil which is 2nd toughest for me.

**lowslowbenz** · November 11th, 2014 06:13 PM

Yung bahay namin sa probinsiya, Yakal ang cross braces, supports, and yung floor. Yung main house beams are Narra. Other wood that was used (for doors, walls, etc.) was Apitong and Tanguile.

Balustrades were made of Molave.

**jay2** · November 12th, 2014 02:25 AM

Before I thought the hardest wood dito sa pinas ay kamagong, then my brother told me last year may binebenta sa kanya kahoy na ginagamit na rudder sa mga barko nung araw, mangkono name nung kahoy. Hindi nya nabili wala sya way I transport from Mindanao

**willyfernando** · November 12th, 2014 03:49 AM

We are a wood processing company engaged in fit out contracts mostly using hardwood we import ourselves from Africa and the US. We are currently using American Black Walnut, Appalachian White Oak, White Ash and African Teak also known as IROKO. We have our own forest concession contracts in West Africa where the IROKO came from. It is a suitable replacement for Narra and it's mechanical properties are ideal both for furniture and sash use. We went into importation as a result of the devastation of forests we've seen during the November 2004 Winnie and Yoyong storm whereby an insane amount of LOGS cascaded down from General Nakar, Infanta and Real Quezon. I have seen bodies of both human and animals sprawled along the shorelines w/c made me decide not to use local timber from that point. I thought much of the trees were uprooted by the cascading floodwaters but to my surprise a greater percentage of the timber were harvested stocks not knowing w/c is legally cut and w/c isn't. We took an effort to provide our market alternatives from import sources so our future generations may have a chance to let our own forest products regenerate. If you noticed they are now cutting down fruit bearing trees as wood for furniture hence the scarcity of local fruits that were once abundant in our market places. You'll also notice how younger the age of the tree cuttings are nowadays.

**Ry_Tower** · November 12th, 2014 11:51 AM

Originally Posted by jay2

Before I thought the hardest wood dito sa pinas ay kamagong, then my brother told me last year may binebenta sa kanya kahoy na ginagamit na rudder sa mga barko nung araw, mangkono name nung kahoy. Hindi nya nabili wala sya way I transport from Mindanao

Oo nga pala, Ironwood natin yan iba pa sa kamagong. Meron dito sa amin.