Tropical wood · Africa
African Corkwood wood
African Corkwood (Musanga cecropioides, family Moraceae) is a tropical timber from Africa. Air-dry, it weighs about 14–21 lb/ft³ (224–336 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 465–466.
Other names, by country: Parasolier (Ivory Coast), N'Govoge (Sierre Leone), Doe, Govwi (Liberia).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- Not printed
- Air-dry density
- 14–21 lb/ft³ (224–336 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.18–0.28 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.18-0.28; air-dry density 14-21 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 7.0% tangential
- Radial 2.2%, volumetric 9.8%
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 2 data sets, from different tests and sources, so they can differ widely; all are shown, in the sheet's order, each at the moisture content printed beside it, never restated as 12%.
| Moisture | Bending strength (MOR) | Stiffness (MOE) | Crushing strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12% MC | 4,600 psi (32 MPa) | 0.53 million psi (3.6 GPa) | 2,620 psi (18 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 7,700 psi (53 MPa) | 1.08 million psi (7.4 GPa) | 3,620 psi (25 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Wood pale yellow, pale brown, or whitish, heartwood is not distinct from sapwood. Texture coarse; grain straight, luster rather high.
- Working properties
- Saws well, but difficult to plane because of low density, difficult to finish.
- Durability
- Wood has poor durability and is prone to mold and stain.
- Uses
- Modelmaking, insulation, toys, floats (fishnets, rafts), suitable for high-yield pulps.
- Where it grows
- Found from Sierre Leone to Angola and eastward to Uganda; typical in secondary forests, common on old farms, short-lived.. May form almost pure stands and is suitable for plantation culture.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 465–466, a USDA Forest Products Laboratory work in the public domain.
Work it out for your project
- Rank woods for furniture with the species picker
Weigh african Corkwood against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.