Tropical wood · Africa
Albizzia wood
Albizzia (Albizia spp., family Leguminosae) is a tropical timber from Africa. Dry, its Janka hardness is 750–1,160 lbf (3,336–5,160 N), and air-dry it weighs about 35–45 lb/ft³ (561–721 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 323–324.
Other names, by country: Okuro (Ghana), Ayinre, Uwowe (Nigeria), Mugavu, Nongo (Uganda), Mtanga, Mduruasi (Tanzania).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 750–1,160 lbf (3,336–5,160 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 750-1,160 lb for dry material.”
- Air-dry density
- 35–45 lb/ft³ (561–721 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.45–0.59 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.45-0.59; air-dry density 35-45 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 3.8% tangential
- Radial 2.4%
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 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green | 7,235 psi (50 MPa) | 0.85 million psi (5.9 GPa) | 4,300 psi (30 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 8,855 psi (61 MPa) | 1.06 million psi (7.3 GPa) | 6,420 psi (44 MPa) |
| 15% MC | 12,000 psi (83 MPa) | 1.48 million psi (10.2 GPa) | 6,000 psi (41 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 12,310 psi (85 MPa) | 1.64 million psi (11.3 GPa) | 6,140 psi (42 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood golden yellow, light brown, red-brown., or dark brown, sometimes with a greenish, purple, or red tinge, sometimes with dark streaks; sapwood whitish, yellowish, or pinkish-brown, well demarcated. Texture variable from fine to coarse; grain straight to interlocked or irregular and wavy; may have a silky sheen; without characteristic odor or taste. Dust may irritate mucous membranes.
- Working properties
- Saws and machines well and works easily with hand tools and dresses smoothly but with some tearing of interlocked grain; glues well. Intense irritation may be caused by the sawdust.
- Durability
- Heartwood moderately durable but generally vulnerable to termite attack.
- Uses
- Furniture, joinery, flooring.
- Where it grows
- Widely distributed throughout tropical Africa; mostly trees of the high forest are exploited, but also common in secondary forests.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 323–324, 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 albizzia against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.