Tropical wood · Africa
Musizi wood
Musizi (Maesopsis eminii, family Rhamnaceae) is a tropical timber from Africa. Dry, its Janka hardness is 500–700 lbf (2,224–3,114 N), and air-dry it weighs about 30 lb/ft³ (481 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 449–450.
Other names, by country: Muhumula, Musira (Tanzania), Muhongera, Muguruka (Uganda), Muhunya (Kenya), Manasati (Ivory Coast).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 500–700 lbf (2,224–3,114 N)
- Green: 460–680 lbf (2,046–3,025 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 460-680 lb for green material and 500-700 lb for dry.”
- Air-dry density
- 30 lb/ft³ (481 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.35–0.41 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.41 (plantation-grown material 0.35); air-dry density 30 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to 12% moisture content
- 4.0% tangential
- Radial 2.5%
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 | 8,000 psi (55 MPa) | 1.17 million psi (8.1 GPa) | 4,140 psi (29 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 11,000 psi (76 MPa) | 1.34 million psi (9.2 GPa) | 6,670 psi (46 MPa) |
| Green | 5,400 psi (37 MPa) | 0.95 million psi (6.6 GPa) | 3,020 psi (21 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 8,200 psi (57 MPa) | 1.14 million psi (7.9 GPa) | 5,000 psi (34 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood bright yellow-green or green-brown turning to a golden brown on exposure; sapwood nearly white, wide, clearly demarcated. Grain typically interlocked producing a ribbon figure; texture medium to coarse; without characteristic odor or taste when dry. Pin knots sometimes present, rather knotty near the core.
- Working properties
- Saws and machines very easily and works well with hand tools; planes to a smooth finish if knives are kept sharp; muse be supported when drilling and mortising; good gluing and nailing characteristics; difficult to finish because of high absorbency.
- Durability
- Heartwood readily attacked by decay fungi and termites.
- Uses
- Light construction, boxes and crates, millwork, plywood or core stock. Valued as a softwood substitute. The bark is used in the Congo region as a roofing material.
- Where it grows
- Occurs in Western, Central, and Eastern Africa along the equator. Typically a forest-edge species. Plantations have been established in Zaire and Uganda.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 449–450, a USDA Forest Products Laboratory work in the public domain.
Work it out for your project
- Rank woods for cabinets and trim with the species picker
Weigh musizi against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.