Parota, or Guanacaste, is an imported wood from northern South America. This species is very similar to the popular monkey pod and is routinely found growing in the same parts of the world. Its heartwood comes in all shades of brown, typically with darker areas around the growth rings. With a durable to very durable rating and lighter weight compared to similarly looking woods, it has been used for fine furniture, boatbuilding, millwork, and smaller hobby projects. Parota typically has an interlocking grain which can be bothersome during machining, but with sharp tooling and care can result in some truly stunning results. It glues and finishes well. Parota has a Janka rating of 520, and weighs 3.4 pounds per board foot.
VARIATIONS AND OPTIONS
4/4 refers to lumber that was cut at 1 inch thickness
15/16ths has been skip planed (a majority of the surfacing work has been done, there may be a few spots that are still rough, but the grain of the particular piece of wood should be visible)
13/16ths is commonly called finish planed. This should be ready for sanding and finish
Ripped 1 edge is lumber that has been run through a straight-line rip saw. This allows for easy squaring on a table saw.
Sanded refers to a select few lumber options that have been run through a belt sander and are 100% finish ready.
5/4 lumber was sawn at 1.25 inches in thickness.
6/4 lumber was sawn at 1.5 inches in thickness.
8/4 lumber was sawn at 2 inches in thickness.
10/4 lumber was sawn at 2.5 inches in thickness.
12/4 lumber was sawn at 3 inches in thickness.