Tropical wood · Africa
Onzang wood
Onzang (Odyendea spp., family Simaroubaceae) is a tropical timber from Africa. Air-dry, it weighs about 24 lb/ft³ (384 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 473–474.
Other names, by country: Odieneze (Gabon).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- Not printed
- Air-dry density
- 24 lb/ft³ (384 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.32 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.32; air-dry density 24 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 5.4% tangential
- Radial 3.2%, volumetric 8.8%
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 | 6,350 psi (44 MPa) | 0.83 million psi (5.7 GPa) | 4,050 psi (28 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Wood whitish to straw-colored, sapwood and heartwood not differentiated. Texture coarse; grain irregular.
- Working properties
- Springs and splits severely during log conversion; dried stock saws, planes, and nails easily, easy to peel into veneers.
- Durability
- Wood is vulnerable to attack by decay fungi, stain, and termites. Logs should be converted soon after felling or chemically treated to minimize degrade.
- Uses
- Boxes and crates, veneer, plywood, pulpwood, particleboard.
- Where it grows
- Mbanko (O. zimmermanii) reported in Tanzania and Kenya; Onzang (O. gabonensis) found in Gabon.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 473–474, a USDA Forest Products Laboratory work in the public domain.
Work it out for your project
- Rank woods for your project with the species picker
Weigh onzang against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.