WOOD TYPE

Common names: MAHOGANY AFRICAN, Nigerian, Benin, Lagos, Degema, mahogany (1), Ghana, Ivory coast maahogany (1 και 2), Krala (Ivory coast), mangona (Cameroοn), munyama (Uganda), mbawa (Malawi), Mkangazi (Tanzania) (2)

Botanical classification: (1) Khaya ivoremsis (2) K. anthotheca, (3) K. nyasica. Fam.: Meliaceae

GENERAL

Main products: Sawn wood, veneer.

Natural attributes - structure - origins: Wood of moderate weight, with light to deep reddish-brown heartwood. Grain is straight to interlocked, with a slightly coarse texture. The logs may contain fragile or partly soft heartwood or transversal stretch marks. It grows in tropical West and East Africa.

Natural durability in time: The heartwood is a moderately durable wood. Wood can be attacked by woodworms.

Mechanical attributes: Wood with low flexural strenght and average crushing strength, with very low modulus of elasticity and very low resistance to shock loads.

Density: R (12-15%) = 0.54 to 0.59 g/cm³

Modulus of elasticity: 9000 n/mm² (1) 9.200 and N/mm² (2)

Breaking measure: 78 N/mm² and 83 N/mm² (2)

WOOD PROPERTIES AND PROCESSING OPERATIONS

Drying behavior and stability after drying: Dries quickly with little degradation, except for tension wood which undergoes strong distortion. Slight dimensional variability after drying.

Impregnation behavior: The sapwood is moderately resistant while the heartwood and is extremely resistant to impregnation under pressure.

Bending behavior: Type K. anthotheca has moderately good flexural behavior when steaming while other species do not.

Working properties - tool blunting: Causes moderate blunting of machine cutters, while tension wood, the fragile heartwood and interlocked grain wood create a wooly surface. Requires a reduced cutting angle is 150-200.

Νailing and screwing: Good nailing and screwing.

Gluing behavior: Glues well.

Dyeing and finishing: Good paint, excellent finish.

APPLICATIONS

Furniture, cabinets, office constructions, banks, shops, indoor woodwork, shipbuilding, bodywork frames. Usually used to produce laminates. Decorative plywood and veneer.

Note: Related items are: k. graudifolia and k. senegalensis, sold as heavy African mahogany (density 0.67 g/cm³).