Tropical wood · Africa
Kosipo wood
Kosipo (Entandrophragma candollei, family Meliaceae) is a tropical timber from Africa. Air-dry, it weighs about 40–50 lb/ft³ (641–801 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 401–402.
Other names, by country: Omu (Nigeria), Candollei (Ghana).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- Not printed
- Air-dry density
- 40–50 lb/ft³ (641–801 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.52–0.65 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.52-0.65; air-dry density 40-50 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to air-dry
- 6.0% tangential
- Radial 4.0%
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 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12% MC | 13,200 psi (91 MPa) | — | 7,500 psi (52 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 12,300 psi (85 MPa) | — | 7,500 psi (52 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 12,300 psi (85 MPa) | 1.84 million psi (12.7 GPa) | 8,450 psi (58 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood dull brown or purple-brown and clearly demarcated from the whitish to pale brown sapwood. Texture rather coarse; grain generally inter-locked; without distinctive odor or taste. This is the only species of Entandrophragma that is reported to contain silica.
- Working properties
- Rather difficult to saw, works readily with band and machine tools, tends to tear interlocked grain, polishes and finishes well.
- Durability
- Heartwood moderately durable and moderately resistant to termite attack.
- Uses
- Joinery, furniture and cabinetwork, flooring, decorative veneers, plywood, boat construction.
- Where it grows
- West Africa to Angola and the Congo region; in evergreen, moist, and transitional formations.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 401–402, 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 kosipo against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.