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Caesalpinia velutina
Chaltecoco
A golden-orange hardwood from the brazilwood family, dense enough for outdoor ground contact and refined enough for fine furniture, flooring, and instrument work.
View Selected InventoryAbout Chaltecoco
Chaltecoco belongs to the same family as true brazilwood — the timber famous for violin bows — and it carries some of that same reputation for beauty under the tool. Heartwood runs a warm golden orange, breaking sharply into pale, creamy-yellow sapwood at the edge. It's a genuinely heavy, dense wood, yet it turns out to be surprisingly cooperative once you're working it: mortising, molding, and drilling all come out clean, and it takes a smooth, glossy finish that shows off the color contrast well. Only bonding asks for extra patience — ordinary white glue struggles here, and nailing or screwing needs a pre-drilled hole to avoid splitting. Left outdoors and in contact with the ground, it holds up on its own merit: naturally resistant to both rot fungi and termites, without needing help from a sealant or treatment.
At a glance
- Chaltecoc
- Aripin
- Palo Colorado
At a glance
- Origin
- Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Mexico
- Category
- Musical Instruments
- Best for
- Musical items
- Working properties
- Works cleanly with tungsten carbide or stellite tools despite its density — strong response to mortising, molding, and drilling. Requires pre-drilling before nailing or screwing, and is difficult to bond with ordinary white glue.
Spec sheet
Physical-mechanical properties
Physical-mechanical values for Chaltecoco from the approved Final Content document.
Density
670u2013750 kg/mu00b3
Texture
Fine
Grain
Fine, compact
Hardness
Hard and dense
Durability
High u2014 heartwood highly resistant to decay
Termite Resistance
Resistant
Where it's used
Built for the demanding jobs
01 — Furniture
Indoor & outdoor furniture
02 — Flooring
Premium hardwood flooring
03 — Musical Instruments
Tonewood & musical instruments
04 — Marine
Marine decking & boat building
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