Species data

Anigre

Pouteria spp. - a hardwood from tropical East Africa. Also sold as anegre, aniegre, aningeria.

Properties at a glance

Janka hardness990 lbf
Stiffness (MOE)1,588,000 psi
Specific gravity0.55
Density34.3 lb/ft3 (550 kg/m3)
Weight per board foot2.86 lb
Shrinkage, green to oven-dry7% tangential / 3.8% radial
Indicative price$9.00 per board foot (estimated)

Values are at about 12% moisture content. Density is specific gravity times 62.4; a board foot is one twelfth of a cubic foot, so weight per board foot is that density divided by twelve. Anything marked estimated is our own figure, not a measured one.

How Anigre compares

Measured against the 113 solid woods in this database: it is harder than 50% of them, heavier than 36%, and stiffer than 44%.

What that means in the shop

A 4/4 board 8 inches wide and 8 feet long is 5.33 board feet, so in Anigre it weighs about 15.3 lb. A stack of ten is 153 lb - worth knowing before you load a rack or a car.

Against red oak, the trade's usual yardstick at 1,220 lbf, Anigre is about 81% as hard and 79% as heavy.

Its shrinkage is 7% tangential against 3.8% radial, a ratio of 1.8 to 1. The wider that ratio, the more unevenly a flatsawn board moves across its width as humidity changes, and the more it wants to cup; anything near or above 2 to 1 is worth quartersawing or restraining for panels and wide tops. This one moves comparatively evenly.

Woods of similar hardness

Closest to Anigre on hardness in this database: Black Walnut (1,010 lbf), Imbuia (970 lbf), American Holly (1,020 lbf), Black Cherry (950 lbf). Similar hardness does not mean similar behaviour - check density and movement before substituting one for another.

Working with it

Workability. Works fairly well, though silica in some trees noticeably blunts cutting edges

Durability. Non-durable to perishable, and it offers little real protection from insect attack

Typical uses. veneer, plywood, furniture, boatbuilding, general carpentry, light construction.

Related calculators

Sources

MOE, SG (12% MC), Janka and shrinkage from The Wood Database (citing USDA FPL and related sources). This imported species is not listed in the FPL/Hoadley dimensional change coefficient table, so CT/CR and movement source are omitted. Uses, region, durability and workability summarized from The Wood Database. Price indicative.

These calculators are for planning and estimation. Engineering results (shelf sag, wood movement) use published average material properties; real boards vary by grade, grain, moisture and defects. Verify load-bearing designs with a professional.