North American woods Janka Hardness and what it means.

The Janka Hardness is the measurement of the hardness of a particular type of wood over another.. The test to determined the hardness measures how many pounds per square inch (PSI), of force is needed to push a steel ball half way into a wood plank. Since I deal almost solely with North American woods the list below only has these on it.

What the Janka Scale means in simple terms:
The Janka Hardness Scale starts at zero and goes to 4000, The higher the number the less likely it is the wood would dent, scratch, compress or bend. Janka Scale has no relation to how likely a wood is to crack or break.

American Softwood Janka Scale

Notes: All "Yellow" Pine is common in Construction and Plywood, All "White" Pine is common in home improvement stores for general items. Both are a large block of trees with varying hardness and depending on where you are located depends on which one is common. The stores do not commonly distinguish between the species so it's luck of the draw.

• Red Cedar - 900
• Longleaf (Yellow) Pine - 870
• Slash (Yellow) Pine - 760
• Virginia (Yellow) Pine - 740
• Pond (Yellow) Pine - 740
• Sand (Yellow) Pine - 730
• Table Mountain (Yellow) Pine - 730
• Douglas Fir -710 (Common in furniture like bed frames)
• Spruce (Yellow) Pine - 700
• Loblolly (Yellow) Pine - 690
• Pitch (Yellow) Pine - 620
• Hemlock -540
• Cypress -510
• Sitka Spruce - 510
• Panderosa (White) Pine - 460
• Limber (White) Pine - 430
• Redwood - 420
• Sugar Pine - 380
• Western White Pine - 420
• Eastern White Pine - 380
• Sugar (White) Pine - 380
• Western Cedar - 350
• White Cedar - 320

American Hardwood Janka Scale

• Hickory, Pecan - 1,820
• Sweet Birch - 1470
• Hard Maple - 1,450 (Common in cutting boards)
• White Oak - 1,360 (Common in outdoor furniture)
• Beech - 1,300
• Red Oak - 1,290 (Common in flooring)
• Yellow Birch - 1,260 (Common in Plywood, Generic Parts and Wood Trim)
• Green Ash - 1,200 (Endangered due to Ash Borer Beetle)
• Black Walnut - 1,010
• Soft Maple - 950 (Common in low grade furniture and home improvement stores)
• Cherry - 950
• Paper Birch - 910
• Hackberry - 880
• Gum - 850
• Elm - 830
• Black Tupelo - 800
• Sycamore - 770
• Box Elder - 720
• Alder - 590
• Yellow Poplar - 540 (Common wood for trim and more, takes paint well)
• Butternut - 490
• Cottonwood - 430
• Basswood - 410 (Common in carvings)
• Aspen - 350
• Balsa - 70 (Common in Modeling)

Last Update: 8/23/2024