Burmog/Melunak

Description:  The Burmog Melunak timber tends to be pinkish-brown through to a reddish-brown that darkens on exposure. In general, the sapwood is visible but not always clearly defined from the heartwood. The grain is shallowly to deeply interlocked and displays a striped figure on quarter sawn faces. Texture is moderately fine and even, but can be quite open at times. A white deposit is occasionally visible within the pore structure. The timber dries fairly slowly with very few defects. There can be some tendency for surface checking to appear on thicker material and some warping will be apparent. Moderately stable.

Properties:  The interlocking and slightly irregular grain coupled with any white deposits make this a fairly difficult timber to work. Cross-cutting may produce burning and surface tearing. Planing is difficult and pick-up during planing is common. To reduce pick-up, reduce the cutting angle of the planer knives. Burmog Melunak will turn reasonably well with sharp tools. It takes nails and screws well, but there is a tendency to splitting so it is advisable to pre-drill when nailing and especially when screwing. Melunak glues well; gluing must be done with care or it may stain the wood. Open grained material will require a certain amount of filling before final surface finishing takes place. When well-prepared it takes stains evenly and polishes very well. It finishes well.