Tropical wood · Southeast Asia and Oceania
Mango wood
Mango (Mangifera spp., family Anacardiaceae) is a tropical timber from Southeast Asia and Oceania. Dry, its Janka hardness is 1,000 lbf (4,448 N), and air-dry it weighs about 35–45 lb/ft³ (561–721 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 679–680.
Other names, by country: Thayet (Burma), Membatjang, Mangga (Indonesia), Xoai (Indochina), Asam (Sabah), Malapaho, Pahutan (Philippines).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 1,000 lbf (4,448 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness about 1,000 lb for dry material.”
- Air-dry density
- 35–45 lb/ft³ (561–721 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.45–0.58 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.45-0.58 air-dry density 35-45 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 4.9% tangential
- Radial 3.0%, volumetric 7.3%
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 4 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 | 8,710 psi (60 MPa) | 1.3 million psi (9 GPa) | 4,180 psi (29 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 12,680 psi (87 MPa) | 1.58 million psi (10.9 GPa) | 6,225 psi (43 MPa) |
| Green | 9,400 psi (65 MPa) | 1.45 million psi (10 GPa) | 4,420 psi (30 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 14,900 psi (103 MPa) | 1.91 million psi (13.2 GPa) | 7,550 psi (52 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood light pinkish-brown, light brown, dark brown, or golden, black streaks sometimes present; sapwood not always clearly defined; texture moderately fine to coarse; grain interlocked, sometimes straight; lustrous; without distinctive odor or taste.
- Working properties
- Generally reported to be easy to work, but smoothness of cut varies with grain irregularities, torn grain is common; finishes and polishes well.
- Durability
- Heartwood is vulnerable to attack by decay fungi as well as termites.
- Uses
- Joinery, furniture components, face veneers and corestock for plywood, turnery, flooring.
- Where it grows
- Throughout tropical Asia, most species found in Malaya. M. indica produces the mango fruit of commerce and has been introduced throughout tropical and subtropical areas of the world.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 679–680, 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 mango against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.