The many good characteristics of Bulletwood make it useful for a number of special uses. It is used for billiard cues, violin cues, turnings of all types, and furniture. Its strength, high wear resistance, and excellent durability adapt the timber for use as sheathing, boat frames, mill rollers, and keel shoes.
Scientific Name: Balata (Family: Manilkara Bidentata)
A.T.I.B.T. Standard Name: Sapotaceae
Other Names: - Balata, Balata Rogue, Abeille, Bolletrie, Massaranduba,
Purgo, Quinilla, Pamashto, and Ausubo
Bulletwood is a very hard, strong, and tough wood. Tests of Bulletwood have shown it to be comparable to greenheart in mechanical properties in both the green and air-dry condition. It is equal or superior to greenheart in bending strength, shock resistance, hardness, shear, and in across-the-grain properties of compression and tension. Bulletwood is decidedly superior to white oak in all mechanical properties except cleavage resistance.
Bulletwood is commonly a large, well formed tree reaching heights of 100 to 150 feet and diameters of 2 to 4 feet and occasionally up to 6 feet or more. Buttresses are usually lacking but the tree is often basally swollen. Boles measure 60-80 feet long and are cylindrical.
The heartwood is light red to rose red when freshly cut, becoming light to dark reddish brown upon seasoning. The sapwood is whitish or pale brown; it is distinct but not sharply demarcated from the heartwood. The wood has a fine uniform texture without pronounced figure. The grain is usually straight but sometimes interlocked. The sometimes has a characteristic odor when green, but neither odor nor taste after seasoning.
Bullet wood is extremely heavy and hard.
Weight: In the green condition the timber weighs 76 lbs/ft3 and 64 lbs/ft3 when air-dry.
Specific Gravity: Air-dry wood averages about .89 based on air-dry volume and weight, and averages .83 based on green volume and oven-dry weight.
The wood is termite-proof and very durable in the ground
Seasoning: Seasons with little degrade, when piled in a manner to assure a slow rate of seasoning.
Working/Machining: Bulletwood is a moderately easy wood to work despite its high density. It machines and finishes to a very smooth surface and similar to white oak, it is rated as excellent in steam bending properties.
Assembly: Gluing the wood requires special care to acquire a good bond because of its resistance to the absorption of moisture.
Finishing: The wood takes a fine polish and has the appearance of walnut when finished.
The many good characteristics of Bulletwood make it useful for a number of special uses. It is used for billiard cues, violin cues, turnings of all types, and furniture. Its strength, high wear resistance, and excellent durability adapt the timber for use as sheathing, boat frames, mill rollers, and keel shoes.
The wood is used for many additional purposes including utility poles, fence posts, heavy construction, ax and tool handles, railway ties, heavy beams, marine and bridge construction, flooring, foundations, and to a great extent, for all types of carpentry and joinery. It is also reported to give good service as flooring in industrial plants and machine shops and in bench tops, stair treads, and truck bodies.
Regular supplies are available.
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Greenheart is natually resistant to wood destroying organisms from the water and land. It is exceptionally hard and used in many different environments from flooring to piling.