Tropical wood · Africa
Mueri wood
Mueri (Pygeum africanum, family Rosaceae) is a tropical timber from Africa. Dry, its Janka hardness is 1,860 lbf (8,274 N), and air-dry it weighs about 45 lb/ft³ (721 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 499–500.
Other names, by country: Mkomohoyo, Mseneo (Tanzania), Ntasesa (Uganda), Tenduet, Mueri (Kenya).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 1,860 lbf (8,274 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 1,860 lb at 12% moisture content.”
- Air-dry density
- 45 lb/ft³ (721 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.58 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.58; air-dry density 45 pcf.”
- Shrinkage
- Not as one figure
- As printed: “Volumetric shrinkage green to ovendry 9.1%.”
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 | 17,700 psi (122 MPa) | 1.64 million psi (11.3 GPa) | 9,100 psi (63 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood pale red when freshly cut, turning on exposure to a dark rich red color; sapwood pale pink, not clearly defined. Texture medium to fine; grain straight to interlocked. Janka side hardness 1,860 lb at 12% moisture content.
- Working properties
- Seasoned wood saws easily and cleanly, works well with hand and machine cools, difficult to nail, polishes and finishes well.
- Durability
- Heartwood is perishable. Sapwood liable to powder-post beetle attack.
- Uses
- Flooring, heavy construction where durability is not required, furniture components.
- Where it grows
- Found mainly in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zaire; semitropical rain forests at altitudes of 5,000-9,000 ft.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 499–500, 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 mueri against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.