Tropical wood · Africa
Zebrano wood
Zebrano (Microberlinia brazzavillensis, family Leguminosae) is a tropical timber from Africa. Air-dry, it weighs about 53 lb/ft³ (849 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 455–456.
Other names, by country: Zingana (Gabon), Allen élé (Cameroon).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- Not printed
- Air-dry density
- 53 lb/ft³ (849 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.70 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) about 0.70; air-dry density 53 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 11.5% tangential
- Radial 6.8%, volumetric 16.5%
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12% MC | 17,200 psi (119 MPa) | — | 8,500 psi (59 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 22,800 psi (157 MPa) | 2.34 million psi (16.1 GPa) | 10,700 psi (74 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood pale yellow-brown with narrow darker streaks, striping pattern varies considerably; sapwood white up to 4 in. wide, distinct. Texture medium to coarse; grain usually wavy or interlocked; lustrous; unpleasant odor disappears after drying.
- Working properties
- Saws fairly well, a clean smooth finish is sometimes difficult to obtain with machine or hand planing, rearing of interlocked grain; good gluing properties, veneers need careful handling to avoid cracking.
- Durability
- Heartwood is durable and resistant to termite attack.
- Uses
- Decorative veneers, turnery. Because of high toughness, used in ski manufacture, tool handles, etc.
- Where it grows
- West Africa, mainly in Gabon and Cameroon, gregarious, sometimes in pure stands along riverbanks.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 455–456, a USDA Forest Products Laboratory work in the public domain.
Work it out for your project
- Rank woods for turning with the species picker
Weigh zebrano against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.