How hard is monkeypod wood?

Monkeypod has a Janka hardness of about 900 lbf (4,000 N), a USDA Forest Products Laboratory reference value at 12% moisture content. That places it below cherry and well below red oak, making it a relatively soft hardwood.

Can monkeypod be used outdoors?

Monkeypod heartwood is only moderately durable, rated fair against decay fungi and modest against termites and marine borers, while the sapwood is perishable and prone to powderpost beetles. It is best suited to interior work rather than ground-contact outdoor use.

What is monkeypod wood used for?

Monkeypod is favored for live-edge slab tables, large bowls, carved figures, furniture, paneling, boatbuilding parts, veneer, and instrument bodies. Big-diameter stock is especially prized for single-board tabletops.

ExoticSamanea saman

Monkeypod

Wide slabs are the headline product. Hawaiian-grown beats plantation Southeast Asia.

Monkeypod (Samanea saman) is an exotic hardwood native to Central and northern South America, with a Janka hardness of 900 lbf. Its heartwood ranges from golden brown to deep chocolate with dark streaks, ribbon figure, and chatoyance.

Category: Exotic
Janka: 900 lbf
Botanical: Samanea saman
Shipped at: 6–8% MC

Samanea saman Native to Central and northern South America (Mexico to Peru/Brazil)

Native to Central and northern South America (Mexico to Peru/Brazil).

Big-diameter Hawaiian monkeypod is the prize for single-board tabletops. Heartwood golden brown to deep chocolate, often with dark streaks, ribbon figure, and chatoyance.

Detail of Monkeypod grain — figured wood texture, photographed at Raw Heartwood — A close read on the grain. Detail of this specimen

What you see.

Heartwood golden brown to deep chocolate, often with dark streaks, ribbon figure, and chatoyance. Pale yellowish white sapwood, sharp line. Wide slabs show dramatic color shifts — purple and red zones around the heart.

Heartwood color detail of Monkeypod (Samanea saman)

Heartwood, this specimen

How the grain runs.

Interlocked or wavy. Ribbon and curl on quartersawn faces. Medium to coarse texture, open pores, natural luster.

Closer in

On the bench.

Heartwood moderately durable. Fair against decay fungi. Modest against termites and marine borers. Sapwood is perishable and powderpost beetles find it. Easy in spite of the interlock. Figured stock tears — drop the cutting angle. Turns, glues, and finishes well. Takes oil cleanly. Dries quick with low risk of checking. Faint, mild, slightly sweet at the cut. Not unpleasant. Does not stick around in dry stock. Reports are uncommon. Legume dust can irritate lungs and occasionally sensitize skin. Standard PPE.

The numbers, looked at directly.

Janka Hardness

0lbf

4,000 N. Side-hardness — force to embed a half-inch steel ball halfway into the wood.

Average Dried Weight

0lbs/ft³

610 kg/m³. At 12% MC.

Specific Gravity

0.50/ 0.61 at 12% MC

Basic over green volume; second number at 12% moisture content.

Hardness, in context

A side-hardness measurement. Higher number, harder wood.

Shrinkage — radial / tangential / volumetric

2.8%radial

4.8%tangential

7.6%volumetric

On sourcing

Where this wood comes from matters.

Not on CITES. IUCN Least Concern. Considered invasive in some Pacific regions. Most commercial supply is plantation thinning, urban removal, and orchard salvage — not primary forest cut.

What it's for.

Live-edge slab tables
Large bowls
Carved figures
Furniture
Paneling
Boatbuilding parts
Veneer
Instrument bodies

Worth knowing.

Big-diameter Hawaiian monkeypod is the prize for single-board tabletops. Hawaiian-grown stock generally runs darker and stronger in figure than fast-grown plantation material from Southeast Asia.

Sources & references.

Albizia saman (Samanea saman) — Wikipedia contributors
Monkeypod (Samanea saman) — The Wood Database
Samanea saman (rain tree) — Species Profiles for Pacific Island Agroforestry — Staples, G.W.; Elevitch, C.R. (2006)
Monkeypod in Hawaii — CTAHR, University of Hawaii at Manoa
Samanea saman — Plants of the World Online (Kew)
Albizia saman — CABI Compendium

Common questions.

How hard is monkeypod wood?: Monkeypod has a Janka hardness of about 900 lbf (4,000 N), a USDA Forest Products Laboratory reference value at 12% moisture content. That places it below cherry and well below red oak, making it a relatively soft hardwood.
Can monkeypod be used outdoors?: Monkeypod heartwood is only moderately durable, rated fair against decay fungi and modest against termites and marine borers, while the sapwood is perishable and prone to powderpost beetles. It is best suited to interior work rather than ground-contact outdoor use.
What is monkeypod wood used for?: Monkeypod is favored for live-edge slab tables, large bowls, carved figures, furniture, paneling, boatbuilding parts, veneer, and instrument bodies. Big-diameter stock is especially prized for single-board tabletops.

From the library to your bench