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PZC Chatometry

A standard system to measure wood chatoyance

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  • What is Chatoyance?
    • Curl
    • Ribbon Stripe
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  • The PZC method
    • Scale example 1
    • Scale example 2
    • Scale example 3
    • Scale example 4
  • Woods
    • Summary Table
    • Africa
      • Abura
      • Afrormosia
      • Afzelia
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    • North America
      • Ash, American White
      • Alder, Red
      • Boxelder
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      • Osage Orange
      • Osage Orange, Green
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      • Service Tree
      • Walnut, Black
      • Willow
    • Oceania
      • Agathis
      • Australian Blackwood
      • Cedar, Australian Red
      • Eucalyptus
      • Eucalyptus Regnans
      • Eucalyptus (River Red Gum)
      • Eucalyptus (Tasmanian Oak)
      • Maple, Queensland
      • Oak, Northern Silky
      • Spotted Gum
      • Tasmanian Myrtle
      • Walnut, Queensland
    • South and Central America
      • Angelim
      • Araucaria
      • Bloodwood
      • Bocote
      • Canarywood
      • Carapa
      • Cedar, Spanish
      • Cerejeira
      • Chechen
      • Cumaru
      • Garapa
      • Goncalo Alves
      • Granadillo
      • Imbuia
      • Ipe
      • Jacareuba
      • Jatoba
      • Jequitiba
      • Katalox
      • Louro Faia
      • Louro Preto
      • Mahogany, Cuban
      • Mahogany, Honduras
      • Massaranduba
      • Osage Orange, Argentine
      • Pao Rosa
      • Peroba Rosa
      • Podocarpus
      • Primavera
      • Rosewood, Cocobolo
      • Rosewood, Honduras
      • Rosewood, Kingwood
      • Rosewood, Santos
      • Timbauba
      • Tineo
      • Ziricote
  • Case studies
    • Roasting Curly Maple
    • Epoxy resin
    • Bleaching Sapele
    • Sapwood vs Heartwood
    • Different Materials
    • Sunlight & Weather
      • Sunlight exposure on purpleheart
      • Sunlight & Weather exposure on sweet cherry
      • Sunlight exposure on field maple
      • UV light exposure
    • Finishing
      • Finishing Maple
      • Finishing Curly Maple
      • Finishing Curly Maple – part 2
      • Surface preparation on Curly Maple
      • Incremental grit and finishing on Curly Maple
      • Finishing Okoume
      • Finishing London Plane
      • Finishing Blonde European Walnut
      • Finishing European Ash
      • Finishing European Elm
    • Progressive grit sanding
    • Ultra-fine sanding
    • Raw Veneer vs fine sanded
    • Quartersawn vs Flatsawn
      • Quartersawn vs Flatsawn on London plane
      • Quartersawn vs Flatsawn on Red Oak
      • Quartersawn vs Flatsawn on European Beech
    • Mud Curing on Osage Orange
    • No. 1 – Hawaiian Koa
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      • Large GIFs 8
      • Australian species
    • Wood samples
    • Fresh-cut wood
    • From firewood to PZC results
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Wood samples

Wood chatoyance is affected by many parameters, amongst which final sanding and darkening by air or light exposure. As a consequence, wood samples do not always show the intrinsic wood chatoyance.

31 samples from 3 different sources and 22 different wood species were tested in the “as received” condition and then after 1500-grit sanding.

In terms of PZC (visible chatoyance), charts below summarize the results. It may be noticed that there is no strict correlation between chatoyance in the “as received” condition and chatoyance after sanding. Therefore, looking at a sample “as received” does not tell all the story about the wood properties. However, samples “as received” showing high chatoyance generally show high chatoyance also after sanding.

In terms of surface brightness there is a good match between brightness before and after fine sanding. On average, brightness after fine sanding is 6% lower than in the “as received” condition. However, there is some variation, with some samples that are 30% brighter (Tali and Honduras Mahogany), possibly due to aging, and samples that are 40% darker (Sipo and Niangon), possibly due to a significantly reduced diffused reflection.

Generally, it can be concluded that planed or rough sanded samples do not provide good information about the underlying wood chatoyance.

Pictures below show some comparison examples:

Canarywood as received – PZC = 10.7 – Brightness = 0.271
Canarywood 1500-grit sanded – PZC = 20.6 – Brightness = 0.203
Spanish Cedar as received – PZC = 23 – Brightness = 0.271
Spanish Cedar 1500-grit sanded – PZC = 15.7 – Brightness = 0.309

Sipo as received – PZC = 19.1 – Brightness = 0.157

Sipo 1500-grit sanded – PZC = 24.4 – Brightness = 0.094
Honduras Mahogany as received – PZC = 20.1 – Brightness = 0.159
Honduras Mahogany 1500-grit sanded – PZC = 14.8 – Brightness = 0.206

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