Tropical wood · Africa
Gambeya africana wood
Gambeya africana (Gambeya africana, family Sapotaceae) is a tropical timber from Africa. Air-dry, it weighs about 48 lb/ft³ (769 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 415–416.
Other names, by country: Longui rouge (Congo-Brazzaville).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- Not printed
- Air-dry density
- 48 lb/ft³ (769 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.63 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) about 0.63; air-dry density 48 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 8.1% tangential
- Radial 5.8%, volumetric 14.0%
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12% MC | 18,700 psi (129 MPa) | 2.3 million psi (15.9 GPa) | 9,850 psi (68 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 18,200 psi (125 MPa) | 1.82 million psi (12.5 GPa) | 10,700 psi (74 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood whitish when first felled, turning a pink-buff to an olive-yellow, and finally a yellowish-brown; not demarcated from the sapwood. Texture fine to medium; grain straight to occasionally interlocked; luster rather low; wood contains a pale-brown gum. LONGUI
- Working properties
- Easy to saw, machines well and dresses to a smooth finish, does not split in nailing, good gluing properties; peels and slices satisfactorily.
- Durability
- Durability low and prone to termite attack.
- Uses
- General construction, flooring, furniture components, veneer and plywood, joinery. Seeds produce an edible oil.
- Where it grows
- From Sierra Leone to the Congo region and Angola; found in rain forests and transitional formations, often planted for its edible fruits.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 415–416, 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 gambeya africana against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.