Tropical wood · Africa
Mecrusse wood
Mecrusse (Androstachys johnsonii, family Androstachydaceae) is a tropical timber from Africa. Dry, its Janka hardness is 2,540 lbf (11,298 N), and air-dry it weighs about 55 lb/ft³ (881 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 327–328.
Other names, by country: Lebombo ironwood, Nsimbitsi (Transvaal-South Africa), Cimbirre (Mozambique).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 2,540 lbf (11,298 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 2,540 lb for dry material.”
- Air-dry density
- 55 lb/ft³ (881 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.72 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.72; air-dry density 55 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 6.2% tangential
- Radial 5.8%, volumetric 11.6%
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 one data set, 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) | — | 9,500 psi (66 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood light or medium brown, reddish tint, with darker markings; sapwood yellowish-white not sharply demarcated. Texture very fine and even; grain straight to irregular and wavy; somewhat lustrous; without characteristic odor or taste.
- Working properties
- Reported to saw and machine without particular difficulty; a good turnery wood; gives a good finish; glues well.
- Durability
- Heartwood highly resistant to attack by decay fungi and termites.
- Uses
- Flooring (parquet), heavy construction, railroad crossties, turnery, mine props.
- Where it grows
- Found in Southeast Africa, in mountainous areas along streams, frequently in pure stands.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 327–328, a USDA Forest Products Laboratory work in the public domain.
Work it out for your project
- Rank woods for flooring with the species picker
Weigh mecrusse against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.