Tropical wood · Africa
East African Camphorwood wood
East African Camphorwood (Ocotea usambarensis, family Lauraceae) is a tropical timber from Africa. Dry, its Janka hardness is 930 lbf (4,137 N), and air-dry it weighs about 37 lb/ft³ (593 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 471–472.
Other names, by country: Muwong, Maasi, Mkulo (Tanzania), Mwiha (Uganda).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 930 lbf (4,137 N)
- Green: 760 lbf (3,381 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 760 lb for green material and 930 lb for dry.”
- Air-dry density
- 37 lb/ft³ (593 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.51 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.51; air-dry density 37 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to 12% moisture content
- 4.0% tangential
- Radial 2.5%
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 3 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 | 8,500 psi (59 MPa) | 1.18 million psi (8.1 GPa) | 4,440 psi (31 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 13,300 psi (92 MPa) | 1.44 million psi (9.9 GPa) | 7,590 psi (52 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 10,900 psi (75 MPa) | 1.44 million psi (9.9 GPa) | 6,790 psi (47 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood light yellowish-brown, darkening to a deep brown on exposure; sapwood slightly paler, not clearly demarcated. Texture medium to fine and even; grain interlocked producing a stripe figure; sometimes lustrous; timber has a distinct camphor scent.
- Working properties
- Works easily with hand and machine tools, in planing interlocked grain a cutting angle of 20 degrees is suggested, good gluing and moderate steam-bending properties, finishes satisfactorily.
- Durability
- Heartwood is rated as very durable but is vulnerable to termite attack and marine borers. Sapwood liable to powder-post beetle attack.
- Uses
- Cabinet and furniture work, joinery, flooring, sliced veneer, boatbuilding.
- Where it grows
- Occurs in wet montane forests at altitudes of 3,000-9,000 ft; mainly in Kenya and Tanzania, sparse in Uganda.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 471–472, 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 east African Camphorwood against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.