The Forestry Forum

Hi all,

I was at a local furniture store today, and I found an outdoor bench that was reduced way down in the clearance section, marked down to just $28.  I couldn't pass it up.  It's made from shorea wood, which is a wood that I'm not familiar with at all.  I know it has to be an exotic, but I'm wondering if it's like teak or cypress, so that it's really well suited to be an outdoor bench without slathering on a ton of sealant.  Can anyone shed a little light on it for me?  Thanks!

Only what I found on Google. :)
http://patiolife.com/patio/shoreaindex.html

Well that is as good an explantion as one could hope for. It's amazing the info that can be pulled up from search engines. Thanks for the link. Kewl wood.  8)

Shorea is gorgeous, dense wood. Unfortunately, a lot of Shorea (commonly called meranti, lauan, Philippine mahogany) is illegally harvested in Indonesia and shipped to China for processing into furniture. This is an immensely corrupt enterprise (http://www.dlarborist.com/treetrends/categories/goodWood/2005/03/25.html#a101). It is better (ethically speaking) for American and European consumers to avoid buying Asian tropical hardwoods or furniture unless it is certified. This comment doesn't apply to teak or rubberwood, both of which are produced entirely in plantations.