EVALUATION OF MACHINABILITY AND CHARACTERIZATION OF THE PHYSICAL PROPRIETIES OF AFRICAN MAHOGANY (Khaya ivorensis A. Chev.) WOOD

Abstract

The objective of this work was to characterize the physical proprieties and evaluate the machinability of African mahogany (Khaya ivorensis A. Chev.) wood from the city of Seropédica – Rio de Janeiro State. To produce the specimens three logs of about 1 m of length and 30 cm of diameter were used from three different trees. The specimens produced measured 30 cm x 12 cm x 2.3 cm for machinability tests, and 2 cm x 3 cm x 5 cm for physical proprieties, apparent density, basic density and volumetric shrinkage. The machinability tests were: planning, sanding; boring, tear test and nails application. The machinability tests were made following the ASTM-D 1666-87 standard. The wood presented a medium density and low relationships between its density and volumetric shrinkage. In the machinability tests the wood showed good quality, showing great potential for use in the furniture industry and internal finishing of buildings.