Tropical wood · Africa
Oboto wood
Oboto (Mammea africana, family Guttiferae) is a tropical timber from Africa. Air-dry, it weighs about 41–54 lb/ft³ (657–865 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 451–452.
Other names, by country: Bompegya (Ghana), Kaikumba (Liberia, Sierra Leone), Ologbomodu (Nigeria), Aborzok (Cameroon), Bokoli (Zaire).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- Not printed
- Air-dry density
- 41–54 lb/ft³ (657–865 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.53–0.70 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.53-0.70; air-dry density 41-54 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 10.0% tangential
- Radial 6.5%, volumetric 14.1%
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 2 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 | 23,300 psi (161 MPa) | 2.08 million psi (14.3 GPa) | 11,200 psi (77 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 20,100 psi (139 MPa) | 2.12 million psi (14.6 GPa) | 9,900 psi (68 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood dark red or red-brown, darkening to a mahogany color; sapwood light or pink-brown, well demarcated. Specked with horizontal gum ducts. Texture somewhat coarse; grain straight to interlocked; without luster; odor or taste not characteristic.
- Working properties
- Saws cleanly and works well but mineral matter in the vessels tend to blunt cutters. Appreciable quantities of gum are exuded if veneers are hot-pressed into plywood. Takes a fine finish.
- Durability
- Heartwood is reported to have good decay resistance but is moderately susceptible to termite attack
- Uses
- Furniture components, joinery, millwork, general carpentry. Considered as a mahogany substitute.
- Where it grows
- Found in mixed deciduous forests from Sierra Leone to Angola and Zaire, prefers rather wet environment and sometimes forms small stands on flood plains.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 451–452, 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 oboto against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.