Tropical wood · Southeast Asia and Oceania
Ranggu wood
Ranggu (Koordersiodendron pinnatum, family Anacardiaceae) is a tropical timber from Southeast Asia and Oceania. Dry, its Janka hardness is 1,860 lbf (8,274 N), and air-dry it weighs about 50–55 lb/ft³ (801–881 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 669–670.
Other names, by country: Amugis (Philippines).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 1,860 lbf (8,274 N)
- Green: 1,705 lbf (7,584 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 1,705 lb for green material and 1,860 lb for dry.”
- Air-dry density
- 50–55 lb/ft³ (801–881 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.65–0.72 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.65 to 0.72; air-dry density 50 to 55 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to 12% moisture content
- 6.5% tangential
- Radial 3.5%
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 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green | 15,580 psi (107 MPa) | 1.9 million psi (13.1 GPa) | 8,130 psi (56 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 22,420 psi (155 MPa) | 2.25 million psi (15.5 GPa) | 11,210 psi (77 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood medium red-brown to a dark red; sapwood white, pinkish, or grayish-brown, clearly defined. Texture rather fine and even; grain interlocked, sometimes slightly wavy or curly; luster variable; without distinctive odor or taste.
- Working properties
- Works adequately with most tools, band resaw rather than a circular blade is recommended for ripping. Dresses to a smooth finish but torn grain is common on quartered faces. Requires firm support at exit faces in mortising and boring.
- Durability
- Heartwood is only moderately durable to nondurable and is not resistant to termite attack. Standing trees are liable to longhorn beetle damage.
- Uses
- Flooring, furniture components, turnery, general joinery.
- Where it grows
- Philippines, Celebes, and Borneo (including Sabah); a scattered tree in lowland forests.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 669–670, 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 ranggu against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.