Anyone ever heard of parawood?

[Matthew Batarseh]

and know where to get some? An acquaintance of my wife has asked me to build a pub table to match some stools she has ordered from an unfinished furniture store near us. They are made of this parawood from Malaysia that seems to be popular with the unfinished furniture companies from my limited googling of it. woodfinder.com doesn't show anyone selling it anywhere.

any idea on what other species would match it pretty well if I can't find any of the same species?

Thanks,

Matthew

[Joe Scarfo]

I thought Parawood was a term for bendable plywood....

I could be wrong though.. it was just my first thought when I heard it.

Good Luck
Joe

[Ken Mutch]

Sorry I cannot help where one can purchase it, but here is some info. on it:
"Parawood


Parawood is A Native tree of the Amazon Region of South America. Information about Parawood can be traced back to Christopher Columbus. It was during his second visit to South America, that he wondered at the heavy black ball the natives were using in games. This black ball was made from the vegetable gum of the Parawood tree. Later historians would also marvel at this substance, which bounced so much when thrown to the ground it appeared to be alive. In the 19th century an Englishman named Henry Wickham transported some seeds to England for germination. The seeds germinated and these small seedlings were then transported to the Malay Peninsula for planting; there to start the Great Rubber Plantations of Malaysia. After 25 to 30 years of latex production, tapped in the same manner syrup is tapped from the Maple trees, the tree ceases to produce sufficient quantities of latex. The tree is cut for processing in the manufacture of fine furniture and a new tree is planted in its place.
Color: Pale yellow.
Grain: Open grain similar to mahogany.
Characteristics: A very hard wood.
Finishing: Takes a very even stain"

That is my lot for what it is worth:p
Ken

[Dan Oliphant]

Matthew,
Parawood as stated in another response is nothing more than a rubber tree that is recycled for lumber after its life producing latex is over. I have found the wood to be "stringy" when sanding and preping for finish. Carved details tend to loose there crisp edges much easier than any other hardwood that I have worked with. The pores on this wood are also open and large, therfor in my openion, a sealer is needed prior to final finish coat.

[Matthew Batarseh]

Hi Dan,

Thanks for the extra info. Any idea on where to get it? You seem to have worked with it before...

[Lou Ferrarini]

Matthew,

I ran into a similar situation. I bought an unfinsihed dining room table and chairs and wanted to build a china cabinet to match. I went to my local hardwood supplier and he never heard of it. I wound up using soft maple and when it was all stained and finished, it matched up pretty well.

Good luck, but I don't think it's imported much here.

[Dan Oliphant]

I have never seen Parawood sold at the hardwood suppliers I use. My exposure to the material is on unfinished furniture that people seem to like buying these days.

[Travis Teichmann]

Matthew,
My wife and I bought a table and chairs from an unfinished furniture store and the wood species was Parawood. I stained it with Red Mahogony and it turned out really nice. Then recently made a friend helped me build a TV stand/entertainment center out of Mahogony, using the same finish as the table. They are very similar and compliment each other. The grain structure of Parawood and Honduran Mahogony are very similar, and they stain very similar as well. BTW, I used some 3/4" and 1/2" Luan plywood in part of the entertainment center and it stained about like the table also. Good luck.

[Dave Dionne]

They also stain it and call it "Teak Like" for the outdoor furniture. When I have tried to find it, every link that came up was for Asain exporters.

Sorry I could not be of help

[Derek Tuchscherer]

This is a litel extra info I found:

Parawood comes from the Far East and is yellowish in color with a grain much like oak. This wood is similar in hardness to maple with a rich texture and an ultra- smooth surface for quick and easy finishing. Parawood trees are plantation grown in Southeast Asia.

Derek

[Derek Tuchscherer]

I always thought that those items were made of beech. Would this be a replacement?

Derek

[Bill White]

Also known as "rubberwood" or, for those so inclined, "asian oak".
Bill

[Bob Aquino]

If you want to match what they have in the unfinished furniture places, make sure you either get it as glued up stock or you will need to cut it into lengths no more than say 5 to 6 inches long and then use a finger joint bit on the router table and glue them back into longer pieces. When you are using these finger jointed pieces to do a glue up, say for a table top, make sure you take pains to make all the finger joints visible, especially on the ends. For instance, cut right through the finger joint so that you can see the intricacies of its inner workings. If you can accomplish all this, then you will have successfully reproduced the latest unfinished furniture masterpieces made from parawood aka rubber trees that no longer produce. :rolleyes:

Or....


Just build it out of pine, it pretty much looks the same.:p

[Bill White]

Bob,
Shame on you! Are you questioning the design complexities of S.E. Asian artistry? Next you will be slamming the "hand rubbed" finishes that are so often applied. Just think, all that for just $39.99.
(Wink, wink!)
Bill

[Mark Rios]

Parawood is two boards of the same species.





Glad I could help.

[John Thompson]

Ken Mutch's google pretty much tells you what "para-wood" is and it origin. And as stated.. it is quite common to see it in un-finished furniture stores as most of that furniture comes from the Pacific Rim.

But.. what wasn't stated and probably should be is that if you watch them open one of the thousands of Conex containers at a furniture factory in say North Carolina (what used to be a factory but now import from over-seas), you will find para-wood furniture on the inside already finished. We are talking good ole Thomasville.. Bassett.. etc. etc.

The wood is abundant in Indonesia as again the rubber sap it produces ceases after a 30 year cycle. It is then cut and replaced with a new seedling and the wood ends up in fine furniture and even pallets as it is very abundant there.

I recovered "para-wood" runners from pallets at work for over a year hoping I could use them for something. I finally found a use for the relatively short lengths I had. I find it very hard and stains relatively easy. Not too difficult to match but I find it open pore, but not as open as white oak, etc.

Here's what I used the "para-wood" runners for in the picture. The para-wood pieces I built sit beside the country kitchen table made from white oak. Had to go a shade darker on the PW for as close a match to the WO as I could get.

So... if anyone wants to junk some PW... I'll take all you want to give away. I take pride in using what others will throw away and making something of use from it. Hard for me to argue with "Free"! ;)

Sarge..

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