Muiracatiara: the complete guide to muiracatiara wood

Muiracatiara is a wood renowned for its looks, with its black markings; it will bring a unique touch to your various projects. Coming from South America, exotic muiracatiara wood is durable and suited to building your decks.

Would you like to know more about muiracatiara wood? WoodPartners explains everything:

• What is muiracatiara wood?
• What are the characteristics of muiracatiara?
• Muiracatiara wood: what is it used for?
• How do you maintain muiracatiara wood?
• Other questions about muiracatiara

What is muiracatiara wood?

Muiracatiara is a tropical wood, like sipo,from the Anacardiaceae family; it has various scientific names: Astroniul balansae, Astronium fraxinfolium, Astronium graveolens, Astronium lecointei and Astronium urundeuva.

Muiracatiara wood comes from South America; it is found in various countries, mainly Brazil. Also called "tiger wood" because of its unique black markings, it is durable and hard-wearing like ipe.

Finally, different names are used for muiracatiara depending on the country:

• Brazil : Muiracatiara, Aderno-Preto, Gonçaleiro, Guaribu-Preto, Mirueira, Sanguessugueira, Baracatiara, Guarita;
• Colombia : Gusanero;
• Mexico : Palo de Culebra;
• Venezuela : Gateado;
• Ecuador : Guasango;
• Paraguay: Urunday-Para.

What are the characteristics of muiracatiara?

Muiracatiara has various characteristics, such as a dark brown colouring tending towards red, a fine grain and good durability, which means it does not need to be pressure treated, for example.

Description of muiracatiara wood

• Colour : dark brown;
• Sapwood (the soft, light-coloured part of the wood that forms each year under the bark): clearly distinct;
• Grain : fine;
• Grain direction or fibre orientation : straight or interlocked;
• Interlocked grain or direction contrary to the axis : slight.

Description of the muiracatiara log

• Diameter : between 60 and 80 cm;
• Thickness of the sapwood : between 4 and 10 cm;
• Preservation in the forest : good.

The physical properties of muiracatiara wood

• Density (at 12% moisture content with 1 MPa = 1 N/mm²): 0.80;
• Hardness (at 12% moisture content with 1 MPa = 1 N/mm²): 6.1;
• Volumetric shrinkage coefficient : 0.56%;
• Total tangential shrinkage (TS): 7.9%;
• Total radial shrinkage (RS): 4.3%;
• Ratio between TS and RS : 1.8;
• Fibre saturation point : 22%;
• Stability in service : not very stable.

The natural durability and treatability of muiracatiara

• Resistance to fungi: class 1, very durable;
• Resistance to dry wood insects : durable, with clearly distinct sapwood;
• Resistance to termites : class D, durable;
• Treatability : class 4, not treatable;
• Use class : class 4, for use in contact with the ground or with fresh water.

Drying muiracatiara wood

• Drying speed: normal;
• Risk of distortion : low;
• Risk of case-hardening (accidental hardening): no;
• Risk of checks (splits): low;
• Risk of collapse (waviness, separation of the wood): no.

If you want to build a muiracatiara deck, we advise you to favour a "KD" version, which will therefore have been kiln dried in order to minimise the moisture content and increase its stability.

Sawing and machining muiracatiara wood

• Blunting effect: fairly considerable;
• Sawing teeth : stellite-tipped teeth;
• Machining tools : tungsten carbide;
• Suitability for peeling : not recommended or of no interest;
• Suitability for slicing : good.

Assembling muiracatiara

The assembly of muiracatiara is carried out in two steps:

• Nailing and screwing: good holding, pre-drilling required;
• Gluing : poor.

Muiracatiara wood: what is it used for?

Muiracatiara wood is mainly used outdoors in the form of roof structures or wooden decks, for example. Other uses are, however, possible indoors, for laying flooring or making luxury furniture.

• In cabinetmaking: the looks and the durability of muiracatiara make it possible to build luxury furniture for your interior.

• Laying flooring: with high strength, muiracatiara wood is an ideal choice for your floors.

• In interior and exterior joinery: endowed with good durability, this wood species is used in interior and exterior joinery because it can be used in contact with the ground or with fresh water.

• For roof structures: muiracatiara has good strength and high durability, which make it a major asset for building heavy timber frames.

• For making musical instruments: with its distinctive looks, it is sought after for building musical instruments.

How do you maintain muiracatiara wood?

Muiracatiara wood needs little maintenance because of its increased durability. Even though it will naturally grey over time, like many other species, it will always keep the black markings that make it so distinctive.

A few simple actions can help you to look after muiracatiara wood day to day:

• Cleaning muiracatiara decking boards with water once or twice a year: with a gentle jet so as not to damage your wood;

• An annual brushing : light but effective in removing ingrained dirt;

• Applying a saturator for muiracatiara : to protect the wood from various forms of attack, you can apply it once or twice a year.

• Using a wood brightener : if you have let the muiracatiara wood grey over time, you can use a wood brightener, which will allow you to bring back the natural shade of the wood.

Other questions about muiracatiara

What is the price of muiracatiara per m2?

Muiracatiara has a price per m2 of around 46 euros. You should bear in mind, however, that this cost will vary according to the supplier, the origin of the wood and its use.

Which saturator for muiracatiara?

You should favour a saturator for exotic wood for your muiracatiara wood; it will be better suited.

Muiracatiara is an attractive and hard-wearing wood, which lends itself to a variety of uses indoors as well as outdoors. You now know everything about muiracatiara wood and you will be able to use it properly in your future projects with the help of WoodPartners!