Reference
Wood database
Eighteen species with Janka hardness, density, shrinkage, workability, price band and outdoor suitability. Sort the columns, filter by use, expand a row for detail, and compare up to three species side by side.
| Species ↕ | Janka ↕ | Density ↕ | Common uses | Workability | Price ↕ | Outdoor ↕ |
|---|
Reading the data
What each column actually tells you
Janka hardness
The force needed to embed a steel ball halfway into the wood, in pounds-force. It predicts how well a surface resists dents and wear. European oak sits near 1360, pine near 540 — roughly two and a half times softer.
Density
Kilograms per cubic metre at 12% moisture content. It correlates with hardness but also tells you how heavy the finished piece will be and how the wood will work under hand tools.
Shrinkage
How much the wood moves across its width between green and fully dry, expressed as a fraction of the green dimension. This is the number that matters most for wide panels and table tops, and it is the one people check least.
Outdoor suitability
Rot resistance comes from natural oils and extractives, not from density. Teak, iroko, western red cedar and white oak perform outdoors; hard maple, beech and ash do not, however hard they are.
Iroko, sapele, teak and several other tropical species contain compounds that irritate skin and airways. Capture dust at the source, wear at least a P2 mask, and use P3 for known irritants. Species data here is typical published reference values — individual boards vary with growth rate and moisture content.