Pau Amarello or Yellowheart

Uses:
Pau Amarello or Yellowheart, is a yellow exotic wood used predominately as a craftwood ..... cabinets, furniture, flooring and decorative turnings, particularly in inlays when a colour contrast is desired.

I've used a fair bit of it in my Intarsia patterns, especially for flowers. Today it has got quite expensive and hard to get anything of any width so I have substituted Yellowheart with another African Wood call Movingui, you might want to check that out in my "Buy Wood" section.

The Tree: Euxylophora paraensis
Rutaceae family: Pau Amarello trees can grow to more than 130 feet tall and 30" in diameter. It has large leaves upwards of 10" long and 4" wide. It has a wonderful show of creamy white, fragrant flowers.

Pau Amarello trees are found almost exclusively in the State of Para, Brazil.

Common Names:Amarello, Pequia setim, yellowheart, lima orana, pau setim, satinwood, boxwood, canary wood or sateen.

Wood Description:
Pau amarello heartwood is a bright yellow colour, darkening a little on exposure to sunlight. There is little differentiation between heartwood and sapwood, or between spring and summer growth rings. The colour is very consistent across the wood. It is usually straight grained and uniform, with no distinctive taste or odor. It dries relatively easily with limited checking and cracking.

Dust from pau amarello or yellowheart lumber can cause skin rashes so take proper care if you have a sensitivity.

Weight: approximately 54lbs/cu.ft.

Finishing:
Yellowheart is not an oily wood, so I've found little difficulty in finishing it. It seems to finish with relative ease. Fine sanding produces a nice sheen.

Machining:
This wood is relatively easy to work with for both hand and power tools, although typically when planning you have to pay more attention to the grain direction. It does like to tear out.

It nails adequately, glues easily and sands to a high polish.

Pau Amarello can exhibit a curly figure, then known as pau setim. Figured wood of this sort is much more difficult to plane, usually requiring an abrasive sander to avoid grain tearout.

Generally speaking Pau Amarello or Yellowheart wood is more likely to twist, so store carefully, to preserve your "special" pieces.

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