Tropical wood · Africa
Afina wood
Afina (Strombosia glaucescens, family Olacaceae) is a tropical timber from Africa. Air-dry, it weighs about 61 lb/ft³ (977 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 513–514.
Other names, by country: Poé (Ivory Coast), Itako, Otinbgo (Nigeria).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- Not printed
- Air-dry density
- 61 lb/ft³ (977 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.80 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.80; air-dry density 61 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 10.2% tangential
- Radial 7.2%, volumetric 15.0%
One source: USDA Forest Products Laboratory, Tropical Timbers of the World (Chudnoff, 1979 edition), the only published source read for this wood
Strength
Bending strength is the modulus of rupture (MOR); stiffness is the modulus of elasticity (MOE); crushing strength is compression parallel to the grain. The sheet collects these from published tests: it prints one data set, each at the moisture content printed beside it, never restated as 12%.
| Moisture | Bending strength (MOR) | Stiffness (MOE) | Crushing strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12% MC | 28,200 psi (194 MPa) | 2.37 million psi (16.3 GPa) | 13,100 psi (90 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood pink or pale brown with purplish streaks; sapwood wide, yellowish and sharply defined. Texture fine; grain fairly straight; lustrous; has an unpleasant smell when freshly cut; rather oily to touch.
- Working properties
- Timber saws cleanly but is apt to spring and split, works well and takes a smooth finish, glues well, splits in nailing and requires preboring, can be sliced into veneers.
- Durability
- Heartwood is highly durable and is immune to termite and other insect attack.
- Uses
- Often used in the round as building poles and transmission poles (treated), striking tool handles, turnery, heavy-duty flooring. Oil from seeds is used for ointment and soap. Suggested as a substitute for European boxwood.
- Where it grows
- From Sierra Leone to the Congo region; found in rain forests, often as a dominant, and in transitional formations.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 513–514, a USDA Forest Products Laboratory work in the public domain.
Work it out for your project
- Rank woods for flooring with the species picker
Weigh afina against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.