Neem in India
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Utilization
Neem wood resembles mahogany in appearance (without its grain). In strength, it is closer to teak,
but is more resistant to shock. It is used in general utility and camp furniture, carts, axles, yokes,
naves and felloes, bottom of drawers, packing cases, cladding, boat building, helms, oars, oil mills,
cigar boxes, carved images, toys, drums and agricultural implements and chopping blocks.
Based on available data on mechanical properties, Chufnoff' and Rajput and Shukla have
recommended the timber for general construction, door shutter, furniture, tool handles, railway
sleepers, Dunn age pallets and general purpose pallets. Shukla have indicated its composite wood
working and carving quality index as 114, when teak is taken as 100.
Use of neem wood has been limited to general utility furniture only because of lack of grain and poor
retention of polish. Suitable technique to elevate grain and to get decorative figure and surface
treatments need to be developed to upgrade the wood.
Behaviour of neem wood with different connectors, Le., dowel, nail, bolts, tongue, groove etc., need to
be studied to develop suitable jointing technique for different engineered applications like trusses,
columns, furniture components etc.
Shukla have found the wood suitable for making plywood and block board. They have recommended
following settings for peeling:
Knife angle : 91.20
Horizontal gap between knife and pressure bar : 1.52 mm
Vertical gap between knife and pressure bar : 0.38 mm
Speed of peeling : 39.62 m/minute
Log temperature : 950C for 18 h
Further intensive studies are, however, required on the peeling, drying and gluing properties to
recommend its utilization in plywood.
Preliminary studies conducted by Shukla and Bhatnagarll on making compressed wood for textile mill
schuttles indicate neem to be inferior to the acceptable species.
Chaturvedi reported that neem wood has a good calorific value (6943 kilocal/kg), but has not been
preferred as fuel wood because it gives smoke in conventional chullahs.
Neem wood resembles mahogany in appearance (without its grain). In strength, it is closer to teak,
but is more resistant to shock. It is used in general utility and camp furniture, carts, axles, yokes,
naves and felloes, bottom of drawers, packing cases, cladding, boat building, helms, oars, oil mills,
cigar boxes, carved images, toys, drums and agricultural implements and chopping blocks.
Based on available data on mechanical properties, Chufnoff' and Rajput and Shukla have
recommended the timber for general construction, door shutter, furniture, tool handles, railway
sleepers, Dunn age pallets and general purpose pallets. Shukla have indicated its composite wood
working and carving quality index as 114, when teak is taken as 100.
Use of neem wood has been limited to general utility furniture only because of lack of grain and poor
retention of polish. Suitable technique to elevate grain and to get decorative figure and surface
treatments need to be developed to upgrade the wood.
Behaviour of neem wood with different connectors, Le., dowel, nail, bolts, tongue, groove etc., need to
be studied to develop suitable jointing technique for different engineered applications like trusses,
columns, furniture components etc.
Shukla have found the wood suitable for making plywood and block board. They have recommended
following settings for peeling:
Knife angle : 91.20
Horizontal gap between knife and pressure bar : 1.52 mm
Vertical gap between knife and pressure bar : 0.38 mm
Speed of peeling : 39.62 m/minute
Log temperature : 950C for 18 h
Further intensive studies are, however, required on the peeling, drying and gluing properties to
recommend its utilization in plywood.
Preliminary studies conducted by Shukla and Bhatnagarll on making compressed wood for textile mill
schuttles indicate neem to be inferior to the acceptable species.
Chaturvedi reported that neem wood has a good calorific value (6943 kilocal/kg), but has not been
preferred as fuel wood because it gives smoke in conventional chullahs.