Tropical wood · Africa
Brachylaena Hutchinsii wood
Brachylaena Hutchinsii (Brachylaena hutchinsii, family Compositae) is a tropical timber from Africa. Dry, its Janka hardness is 2,190 lbf (9,742 N), and air-dry it weighs about 58 lb/ft³ (929 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 347–348.
Other names, by country: Muhugwe, Mkarambaki, Magogo (Tanzania).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 2,190 lbf (9,742 N)
- Green: 1,880 lbf (8,363 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 1,880 lb for green material and 2,190 lb for dry.”
- Air-dry density
- 58 lb/ft³ (929 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.75 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.75; air-dry density about 58 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to 12% moisture content
- 3.0% tangential
- Radial 2.0%
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 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green | 13,300 psi (92 MPa) | 1.25 million psi (8.6 GPa) | 7,770 psi (54 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 16,200 psi (112 MPa) | 1.46 million psi (10.1 GPa) | 10,200 psi (70 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood bright yellow-brown when freshly sawn, becoming yellowishor greenish-brown on drying; sapwood grayish-white, distinct. Texture fine and even; grain straight, closely interlocked, or wavy; with an aromatic spicy scent. Janka side hardness 1,880 lb for green material and 2,190 lb for dry.
- Working properties
- Because of irregular grain and high density the timber is difficult to work, moderate blunting of cutters, tools tend to collect gum, shapes and turns well, difficult to glue, takes a high polish.
- Durability
- Heartwood is rated as very durable, and with good resistance to termites and marine borers.
- Uses
- High quality flooring, carving, turnery.
- Where it grows
- Common in the dry coastal forests of Tanzania and Kenya, also recorded in Uganda.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 347–348, 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 brachylaena Hutchinsii against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.