Tropical wood · Africa
Tchitola wood
Tchitola (Oxystigma oxyphyllum, family Leguminosae) is a tropical timber from Africa. Dry, its Janka hardness is 1,250 lbf (5,560 N), and air-dry it weighs about 40 lb/ft³ (641 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 479–480.
Other names, by country: Lolagbola (Nigeria), M'Babou (Gabon), Tshibudimbu (Zaire), Tola mafuta (Angola).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 1,250 lbf (5,560 N)
- Green: 1,100 lbf (4,893 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 1,100 lb for green and 1,250 lb for dry material.”
- Air-dry density
- 40 lb/ft³ (641 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.53 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.53; air-dry density 40 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 10.7% tangential
- Radial 5.1%
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 3 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 | 11,700 psi (81 MPa) | 1.52 million psi (10.5 GPa) | 5,700 psi (39 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 16,200 psi (112 MPa) | 1.68 million psi (11.6 GPa) | 8,300 psi (57 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 15,000 psi (103 MPa) | 1.35 million psi (9.3 GPa) | 8,100 psi (56 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood reddish-brown with dark gum rings, suggesting walnut; sapwood 4-5 in. wide, light yellow-pink, distinct. Texture variable from fine to moderately coarse; grain straight or shallowly inter-locked; a gummy wood.
- Working properties
- Saws easily and works well with hand and machine tools, presence of gum may clog the cutters, nails and glues well, peels and slices well, takes a satisfactory finish.
- Durability
- Heartwood durability variable, generally moderately resistant, not very susceptible to termite attack. Logs, however, must be removed from the forest soon after felling to avoid degrade due to insect and fungal attack. Sapwood liable to powder-post beetle attack.
- Uses
- Decorative veneers, furniture and cabinetwork, joinery.
- Where it grows
- Occurs in tropical West Africa from Nigeria to Gabon and the Congo region; usually in dense mixed formations along rivers and lakeshores.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 479–480, 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 tchitola against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.