Tropical wood · Africa
Idigbo wood
Idigbo (Terminalia ivorensis, family Combretaceae) is a tropical timber from Africa. Dry, its Janka hardness is 845 lbf (3,759 N), and air-dry it weighs about 32 lb/ft³ (513 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 519–520.
Other names, by country: Black Afara, Idigbo (Nigeria), Emeri (Ghana), Framiré (Ivory Coast).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 845 lbf (3,759 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 845 lb for dry material.”
- Air-dry density
- 32 lb/ft³ (513 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.43 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.43; air-dry density 32 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 5.2% tangential
- Radial 3.5%, volumetric 9.0%
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 | 12,100 psi (83 MPa) | 1.35 million psi (9.3 GPa) | 6,930 psi (48 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 11,900 psi (82 MPa) | 1.36 million psi (9.4 GPa) | 6,400 psi (44 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood yellow-brown or light pink-brown; sapwood somewhat paler, not clearly demarcated. Texture medium to rather coarse; grain straight or slightly irregular; moderately lustrous; without distinctive odor or taste. Dust may irritate skin or respiratory tracts. Timber may stain in contact with iron. Yellow dye may stain damp fabrics.
- Working properties
- Easy to work with hand and machine tools, a 20 degree cutting angle is suggested to avoid tearing of grain in planing, turns well, good nailing and gluing properties, takes a good finish.
- Durability
- Heartwood is rated as durable and moderately resistant to termite attack; sapwood liable to powderpost beetles.
- Uses
- A good general purpose timber. Furniture components, joinery, decorative paneling, veneers, flooring, light construction.
- Where it grows
- West tropical Africa from Guinea to Cameroon, abundant in primary and secondary forests and transition formations. A successful plantation species.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 519–520, 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 idigbo against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.