Ramin: a commercial light hardwood

A LTHOUGH ABOUT five spe- Fl cies of ramin are found in Peninsular Malaysia, the only species with economic importance is Gonystylus bancanus, a light hardwood. Also known as melawis, it is common in peat swamps on the West coast from Perak to Johore.

The wood is creamy white and weathers to a pale straw shade. There is no color difference between the sapwood and heartwood. When planed, the surface is not especially lustrous and is without figure except for a small core which is streaked with alternating layers of blue and marble.

The texture of ramin is moderately fine and even. The grain is shallowly interlocked. Growth rings are indistinct or absent while vessels are generally medium in size and few or moderately few in number. There are no tyloses or deposits. The wood parenchyma is exclusively paratracheal. Rays are fine and cannot be seen with the naked eye.

A moderate amount of cupping, bowing, and slight end splits may occur during seasoning. The timber is also liable to stain. During the early stages of seasoning it is prone to ambosia beetle attack. Drvine time in the air for %" boards ii usually about 3rl: months while the 114" boards take four months.

Ramin has little natural durability and is rapidly attacked by termites. It also has little or no resistance to fungal infection and is highly susceptible to powder-post beetle attack. Untreated it cannot be used in contact with the soil. Easily impregnated by preservatives, even in the open tank process. the timber is classified as extremely easy to treat.

In working. it can be sawn easily. When air dried, it can be easily resawed, cross-cut, planed, bored,

Sfory at a Glance

Greamy white ramin is common in peat swamps of Peninsular Malaysia . . . easy to treat with pre- serYatives... handles readily in veneer. . . Yaried uses wath potentialfor plywood manufacture.

and turned. The quality of finish after planing is smooth, rough in boring, and smooth in turning although it has a tendency to develop hair cracks when turned. The wood has poor resistance to splitting when nailed.

For veneer, ramin can be peeled fairly easily. However, the veneer must be handled carefully as it has a tendency to tear. Gluability is good. It is felt by the Departnrent of Forestry, Peninsular Malaysia, and the Malaysian Timber Industry Board that this is a potentially acceptable timber for a plywood manufacturer.

Uses of ramin at present include light colored furniture, interior joinery, flooring, ceiling, paneling. door and window frames, stringers and stair treads, T-squares, rulers, tripods, straight edges, trays, handles of non-striking tools, brushbacks, toys, turnery. and plywood.

Information used in conrpiling this article was provided by the Departnrent of Forestry, Peninsular Malaysia, and the Malaysian Tinrber Industry Board, joint publishers of Commercial Timbcrs o.l' Peninsular Mala.t,sia.ed.

A Bet On The West

(Continued from page l5) of California, was born in Berkeley and as a youngster often cruised with his parents by boat f'ronr San Francisco to Sacramento uD the Sacranrcnto River. on occjirsion anchoring within a stone's throw ol' the precise site of his present ollice base.

His initial stint at Koppers was at the conrpany's Oroville pressure treating plant.70 ntiles north ol' Sacramento on the Feather River. where he began as a yard forenran. Ile rose rapidly through the ranks, soon becoming plant ntanager. He later served in a succession oftechnical and managerial posts in Pittsburgh. Pa.. headquarters.

Apart from the Oroville facility, otherWest Coast treating plants are located in Denver, Co., Ontario, Ca.. and in Hawaii on the islands ol' Oahu. Hawaii and Maui. Sales offices are nraintained in Denver. Honolulu, and Burlingante and Wilnrington. Ca., while lunrber and pole pl6rcLlpgnrent offices itrc ol)er- ated in Portland. Or.. and Denver. Koppers participation within the wood industry. aplrt l'ronr pressure treating, includes architectural builcling proclucts, specialty wood treating chemicals, and harclwood lunrber. Wolnran ancl Outdoor wood are registered Koppers trademarks.

You'll Never Guess

What is powerful enough to split rocks. operates solely on solar energy. has a plunrbing systent that sucks r.r1.l water 100(lr ntore efficicntly than the best punrp, can tell tinre. ancl is the olclest and largest livirrg thirrg on carth'l n tree. nat Ltra lly.

Arizona Retailer

(Continued from page 8) of raw materials in forest products compared to dwindling supplies of other resources. Dean forecasts that an adequate supply will be available for generations to come if we use any amount of intelligence in managing the forest.

As usual. politics ancl the governmental bureaucracy are our biggest Lhreats. He points out that only 25%r of the total harvested timber in 1979 came from the National Forests, this in spite of the fact that they own 7 501' of the total merchantable standing timber in America. Acts setting aside millions of acres as wilderness area with no harvesting or care permitted are vastly misunderstood by millions of Americans. "ln some ways," quips Drake, "timber is much like sex. you either use it or lose it."

Stressing that the lumber market is one of the few elements in our economy still controlled by supply and demand, he points out that in the face of this past year's double digit inflation, the price of some lumber has dropped back to early 1970s nrices.

Dean sees much optimism in the future for the homebuilding business in the Southwest. Change will continue. nrore condonriniunrs, smaller but better built units will be the rule. Sharing of open space. pools, recreation areas and utilities are dictated by economy. but build they will and, "we intend to be a part rlf this growth." He predicts that Phoenix will double again within the next l5 years.

He is active in both civic and lumber industry functions. He is a past president of the Arizona Lunrber & Builders Supply Association and has served on its board ofdirectors for the past 20 years. He has been a board menr ber of the National Lumber and Builclins Materials Dealers Association foi the past nine years. He spent five years in the Industry Developnrent Division of the NLBMDA. where ntuch of the current material lor dealer sales training. business systems, fi nancial analysis, material handling and operation manuals was prepared.

In addition to these industry related jobs, he also has served as president of the Tempe Junior Chamber of Commerce, president of the Tempe Kiwanis Club and as chairnran of the Tempe Planning

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Dean ancl his wife, Helen, have seven children. All are now out on their own except for Jim, 18, who is a freshnran at Loyola Marynrount [Jniversity in Los Angeles.

Dean and Helen both enjoy golf and duplicate bridge as their hobbies.

They are menlbers of the Biltnrore Golf and Country Club, Mesa Country Club and Dean is a board member of Pinetop Country Club in Northern Arizona.

"lt looks like I don't do nruch other than play golf," Dean ren1 a rKS.

But he does.

Philips Lumber's New Office

A new sales office for Philips Lumber Sales has been opened in Redding, Ca., by Wes Caudill, according to Don Philips, Jr., at the firm's Thousand Oaks, Ca., office.

The company is a widely regarded supplier of laminated beams and arches throughout the West and is considered a leader in this area. The company also sells studs, resawn boards and treated lumber.

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