Brazilian Cherry

Handloggers’ Opinion
Brazilian cherry has so many terrific aspects it’s hard to go wrong with this wood! It has a very deep, red-brown color with some black swirls. It is an extremely hard, dense wood so it holds up to high traffic well.
Appearance
Color: Sapwood is gray-white; heartwood is salmon red to orange-brown when fresh, and becomes russet or reddish rown when seasoned; often marked with dark streaks.
Grain: Mostly interlocked; texture is medium to rather coarse.
Variations within species and grades: Moderate to high color variation.
Properties
Hardness/Janka: 2350; 82% harder than Northern red oak.
Dimensional Stability: Average (change coefficient .00300; 19% more stable than red oak). However, actual installations have demonstrated significant movement in use.
Durability: Dense and very strong.
Workability
Sawing/Machining: Sawing is difficult due to high density; requires frequent resharpening of tools. Planing is difficult due to interlocked grain. Can be machined to a smooth surface. Carbide tooling recommended.
Sanding: Sands well.
Nailing: Good holding ability, but due to hardness may require adjustment of angle of penetration and/or height.
Finishing: Water-based finishes tend to produce more brown tones in the floor while oil-based finishes promote a rich red color . Occasionally there may be pieces that have resin pockets which look like white spots under the finish . There is no known method to avoid this natural phenomenon other than removal of those pieces. The resin pockets are not visible on the unfinished floor.
Comments: Light-sensitive; darkens rapidly upon exposure to sunlight.

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"Wood Species Used in Wood Flooring, publication A200, ©1994" provided with permission and courtesy of the National Wood Flooring Association.