Cordia africana

[Caveman]

G'day All,

Just taken a couple pictures of a newly finished bowl - another new timber for most (all?) of you.
Lovely timber to work - finishes up real nice. This was from a fairly young tree, I've seen it much darker.
Is supposed to be a hardwood but is not really too hard.
About 8 to 9 " (+- 23cm).

Been trying a bead or two on some of my latest bowls - I quite like the look.

Only had one coat of BLO so far.

Comments / critiques appreciated.

[MALPT]

Nice - I like the colour and the bead is a nice touch - good work :welldone:

[artme]

I like that! Clean and simple. Just enough beading so that it doesn't overwhelm the grain.:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

[Rum Pig]

That is a nice bowl Caveman :2tsup:

That is really nice timber and your bead is spot on:2tsup::2tsup:

[orraloon]

Nice wood ,nice bowl. The bead sets it off well.

[Gil Jones]

Andy,
I like it!! A lovely piece of wood, and you did it proud.
The bead is a fine element.:2tsup:

[Caveman]

:2tsup::)Thanks guys, for the comments.


I like that! Clean and simple. Just enough beading so that it doesn't overwhelm the grain.:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

Yes - something important that is / can often be overlooked - if the grain or timber is special / outstanding there is no need to embelish the piece with too much texturing / beads etc...(of course form is always important).
Thanks for the reminder.:2tsup:

[hughie]

wot thay said :U have keep a copy for future reference, nice one.

[Evan Pavlidis]

Nice work Caveman. The beads add to it as does the slight undercut inside giving a slight shadow. Nice grain in the timber and the sap doesn't detract at all. :2tsup:

[Fredo]

As Artme said, clean and simple. Great job Andy, love the grain - and easy to work, what a bonus.

Fredo :U

[Harry72]

Nice work Andy, does this wood go by any other common names?

[Caveman]

Nice work Andy, does this wood go by any other common names?

Thanks guy's,

Harry, I've found these names:

Afrikaans) : grootblaarpieringbessie
(Amharic) : wanza
(Arabic) : gambil
(English) : East African cordia, large-leafed cordia, Sudan teak
(Luganda) : mukebu
(Swahili) : makobokobo, mringamringa, mringaringa, mukumari
(Tigrigna) : auhi, awhi, ekhi
(Trade name) : mukebu, mukumari

It is a fairly widespread common tree throughout east, central and southern Africa.
Not sure if you'll find any in your back yard.

[trevor carrick]

:; Hi all. This is my first post on this forum. I live in Coffs Harbour NSW Australia. My son in law comes from Burundi (Africa) where they use Imivugangoma or cordia-africana to make musical drums. His drumming group requires a new set of drums and I would like to make a prototype using an equivalent Australian timber. Having never worked with cordia-africana I am unsure about its relative hardness or other working qualities. Could anyone suggest an Australian timber that has similar qualities to cordia-africana?

[hughie]

:; Hi all. This is my first post on this forum. I live in Coffs Harbour NSW Australia. My son in law comes from Burundi (Africa) where they use Imivugangoma or cordia-africana to make musical drums. His drumming group requires a new set of drums and I would like to make a prototype using an equivalent Australian timber. Having never worked with cordia-africana I am unsure about its relative hardness or other working qualities. Could anyone suggest an Australian timber that has similar qualities to cordia-africana?


Phew this is an old thread, I havent heard much from Caveman in ages. A to your timber equivalent, you might have to look it up on Google to find out its characteristics ie Janka number etc. Then we might be able to find something similar. We have a fair bit of knowledge of Aussie timber with all the members we have. But will need some stats for a comparision.

[Old-Biker-UK]

What Caveman said plus a few more:

Cordia africana Lam. [Boraginaceae] (several synonyms)

(other local names) Aiiba, Ebais, Ebe, Mfutu, Omo, Sumba
(other timber trade names) Cordia, Mugoma, Mugona

Mark

[Drillit]

Very smart - tell us a little about the wood as I suspect most of us have not worked it or for that matter heard of it. Drillit.

[NeilS]

Looks very similar to our Blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon)

Getting a tree large enough for a large African drum may be the only issue.

Grumpy John did a WIP on making a djembe out of our Blackwood, see here (http://www.woodworkforums.com/f8/djembe-wip-125396/).


PS - coincidentally, my son was on stage last night at WOMAdelaide (http://www.womadelaide.com.au/) playing his djembe

[trevor carrick]

:roll: Thanks Hughie, Old Biker , NeilS and others for the helpful tips. After searching through a maze of confusing scientific and common names, I eventually found some useful technical data to help make a comparison. The information I discovered was found at the Centre for Wood Anatomy which is a branch of the United States Department of Agriculture. By the way the Burundian type of African Drum is called a Karyenda. It is like the djembe Grumpy John made, but the body of the drum is much deeper than a dejembe. In order to hollow it out I think I may require a miners licence. The blackwood djembe made by John looks fantastic Neil, but I need a timber that is more readily available. We have no shortage of Camphor Laurel on the mid north coast but it may be too soft? <o:p></o
Scientific Name: Cordia millenii. Common name: Drum Tree, West African Cordia. Other Common Names: Omo (Nigeria), ebe (Cameroon).
Distribution: Widely distributed in tropical Africa, found in closed forests and old secondary formations. The Tree: Grows to a height of 60 to 100ft, bole cylindrical, but rarely straight, 30 to 40 ft. in length; trunks about3 ft in diameter above buttresses.The Wood: General Characteristics: Heartwood pale golden brown to medium brown occasionally with a pinkish tint; sapwood lighter. Texture coarse; grain typically interlocked give a stripe figure; lustrous; brittle heart fairly common. Weight: Basic specific gravity (oven dry weight/green volume) about 0.34; air-dry density 25 pcf. <o:p></o
Mechanical Properties: (2-cm standard)<o:p></o
Moisture content (%)……………………………Green(40)…………………….12% <o:p></o
Bending strength (Psi)…………………………..7,800……………………………9,700 <o:p></o
Modulus of elasticity (1,000 psi)……………..880…………………………….1,000 <o:p></o
Maximum crushing strength (Psi)………….3,810……………………………5,200 <o:p></o
Janka side hardness 550 lb for green and590 lb for dry material.Amsler toughness 105 in.-lb for dry material (2-cm specimen).
Drying and Shrinkage: Dries rapidly and well with only a slight tendency to warp. A high temperature kiln schedule isnecessary to remove moisture pockets. Kiln schedule T1 3-C4S is suggested for4/4 stock and T1 1 -D3S for 8/4. Shrinkage green to oven dry: radial 3.4%;tangential 4.6%; volumetric 7.5%. Movement in service is rated as small. Working Properties: Works well with hand and machine tools and is easy to finish, in planing there is some tearing of interlocked grain, nails satisfactorily. Durability: Generally heartwood may berated as moderately durable. Preservation: Reported to be resistant to preservative treatments. Uses: Fine furniture and cabinetwork, joinery, and other decorative work where strength is not important.

[NeilS]

I need a timber that is more readily available. We have no shortage of Camphor Laurel on the mid north coast but it may be too soft? <o:p></o



Camphor laurel (Cinnamomum camphora) has a Janka Hardness of 3.3kN or 990lbf/sq.in., so much harder than Cordia milleni.

Go for it, and you will also be helping eradicate a nasty weed.

First turned it 50 years ago. Nice wood to turn.

But, suggest you use a respirator.