Meranti wood is the most popular and most commercial type of wood, especially in Southeast Asia. Generally, this type of wood is used as a raw material for building construction and as a basic material for furniture. Meranti wood is a type of hardwood that has light to medium weight.
This meranti wood can be recognized from its surface which is pale pink, pink brown, dark red, to dark red brown. The color indicates the age of the meranti wood, where the darker it means the wood is getting older and the quality is getting better. So, what are the benefits and advantages of meranti wood? Let’s see the explanation below!
EASY TO DRY
Each wood must have its own water content, as well as meranti wood with a specific gravity ranging from 0.3 to 0.86 at a moisture content of 15%. However, meranti wood is still included in the wood that is easily liberated from the large amount of moisture it contains.
Drying this wood can be done naturally with sunlight or using tools. Usually, this wood drying aims to keep the size and shape stable.
INCLUDES DURABLE WOOD
According to the strength of meranti wood, red meranti species can be classified in strong class II-IV (up to 15 years), while for durability they are classified in class III-IV (up to 10 years). There are five levels of wood classification, the smaller the grade level, the more durable a type of wood. Red meranti wood is also quite easy to preserve by using a mixture of diesel oil with creosote.
HARDWOOD STRUCTURE
Meranti wood can be classified as a type of hard wood. The shape and size of this wood is not easy to change. Meranti wood also does not expand or shrink due to temperature changes.
This meranti wood is quite stable, so it is very good to be used as a building structure material, especially roof trusses. By using this meranti wood, the roof frame of a building will last a long time.
FURNITURE MATERIAL
One of the qualities of meranti wood is that it is easy to shape, this wood can be used as various kinds of furniture. Therefore, it is not surprising that meranti wood has a fairly high purchase price because of the benefits that are manifested in furniture.
PAPER MAKING MATERIAL
Meranti wood is an easy material to make processed wood. Processed wood from this wood can be useful for various things, from exposure to particles, harbors, and veneers for plywood. On the other hand, this processed wood from meranti wood is also suitable for making wood pulp, the main ingredient in paper making.
THE MOST CLOSE TO PERFECT WOOD
This meranti wood has several features, one of which is that this meranti tree has a round, cylindrical trunk, with a total height of 40-50 meters.
Meranti bark is flat and has deep or shallow grooves, gray to brown in color, has a straight trunk, large diameter, free of branches, with minimal knot defects.