Thread: Cordia africana

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

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

That is a nice bowl Caveman

That is really nice timber and your bead is spot on

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

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

Thanks guys, for the comments.

Originally Posted by artme

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

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.

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

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.

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

Fredo

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

Originally Posted by Harry72

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.

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?

Originally Posted by 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?

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.

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