Tropical wood · Tropical America
Cangerana wood
Cangerana (Cabralea cangerana, family Meliaceae) is a tropical timber from tropical America. Air-dry, it weighs about 42 lb/ft³ (673 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 61–62.
Other names, by country: Cajarana, Pau de santo (Brazil), Cancharana Canxarana (Argentina), Congerana (Uruguay), Cedro-rá (Paraguay).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- Not printed
- Air-dry density
- 42 lb/ft³ (673 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.55 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.55; air-dry density 42 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 6.6% tangential
- Radial 3.4%, volumetric 10.4%
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 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 | 10,100 psi (70 MPa) | 1.36 million psi (9.4 GPa) | 5,700 psi (39 MPa) |
| 15% MC | 12,700 psi (88 MPa) | — | 7,400 psi (51 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood typically dull red or maroon, sometimes lighter colored with purplish streaks; not always sharply demarcated from the pinkish sapwood. The wood has a fragrant scent when fresh but without odor or taste when dry. Texture medium to coarse; grain generally straight, sometimes wavy.
- Working properties
- The wood is easy to work, finishes smoothly.
- Durability
- Heartwood highly resistant to attack by decay fungi and insects.
- Uses
- General carpentry, interior and exterior construction, joinery, fine furniture, favored in Brazil for carving.
- Where it grows
- Found in Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina but is most abundant in central and southeastern Brazil.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 61–62, 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 cangerana against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.