Wood species
Bitternut hickory wood
Bitternut hickory is a hardwood (Carya cordiformis). It weighs about 46 lb/ft³ (739 kg/m³), 3.8 lb (1.74 kg) per board foot.
Also called: Carya cordiformis.
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, 12% MC
- Not measured
- Weight at 12% MC
- 46 lb/ft³ (739 kg/m³)
- 3.8 lb per board foot
- Specific gravity (oven-dry weight)
- 0.66 at 12% MC volume
- 0.60 on green volume
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 8.9% tangential
- Radial 4.9%, volumetric 13.6%
One source: USDA Forest Products Laboratory, the authority for species properties it measured
Why: Measured by the USDA Forest Products Laboratory; bitternut hickory's density is worked from its specific gravity with the Handbook's own equation.
How much bitternut hickory moves
A 12 in wide flatsawn board of bitternut hickory that goes from 6% to 12% moisture content swells about 0.23 in (about 7/32 in, 5.8 mm). Quartersawn, the same board moves about 0.12 in (about 1/8 in, 3.1 mm). Flatsawn faces move 1.8 times as much as quartersawn ones, because the wood shrinks 8.9% around the growth rings but only 4.9% across them.
Worked with the Wood Handbook's dimensional change coefficients for bitternut hickory (the Handbook gives one row, "Hickory, pecan", for the group) (Table 13-5: 0.00315 tangential, 0.00169 radial per 1% change in moisture content), which hold between 6% and 14%. Individual boards vary: the Handbook gives shrinkage a coefficient of variation of about 15% (p. 4-11).
Color, grain and working
- Color
- White or nearly white, fairly wide sapwood and somewhat darker heartwood, as for the pecan hickories.
- Working and character
- A pecan hickory, not a true hickory. The Handbook describes the group as heavy, sometimes with very high shrinkage.
- Uses
- Heavy pecan hickory goes into tool and implement handles and flooring; higher-grade logs into veneer for furniture and paneling.
It grows throughout the eastern half of the United States.
Adapted in our own words from the Wood Handbook, Chapter 2, p. 2-7.
Strength
Bending strength is the modulus of rupture (MOR); stiffness is the modulus of elasticity (MOE). Clear, straight-grained samples of bitternut hickory tested by the Forest Products Laboratory (Wood Handbook Table 5-3b). Knots and cross grain make lumber weaker than these clear samples (Handbook Chapter 5).
| Property | Green | 12% MC |
|---|---|---|
| Bending strength (MOR) | 10,300 psi (71 MPa) | 17,100 psi (118 MPa) |
| Stiffness (MOE) | 1,400,000 psi (9.7 GPa) | 1,790,000 psi (12.3 GPa) |
| Crushing strength (compression parallel to grain) | 4,570 psi (32 MPa) | 9,040 psi (62 MPa) |
| Compression perpendicular to grain | 800 psi (6 MPa) | 1,680 psi (12 MPa) |
| Shear parallel to grain | 1,240 psi (9 MPa) | — |
| Tension perpendicular to grain | — | — |
A dash means the Handbook prints no value; none is filled in.
Dust and health
- Wood dust is classed as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, chiefly for cancers of the nose and sinuses.
- NIOSH recommends keeping wood dust exposure to 1 mg/m³ of total dust, as quoted in OSHA's sawmill guidance.
This is what the named authorities publish, not medical advice.
Compare with
Buying and finishing bitternut hickory
Work it out for your project
- Rank woods for furniture with the species picker
Weigh bitternut hickory against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.
- Plan a finish for furniture in bitternut hickory
The finishes whose makers name that use, and a dated coat schedule from each product’s own sheet.
Why these numbers
Why these numbers?
The situation
The Wood Handbook prints no side hardness for bitternut hickory (Table 5-3b shows "—"), so none is given here.
One source: USDA Forest Products Laboratory, the authority for species properties it measured , sources [1]
What that means
Side hardness (Janka) is the load needed to press a 0.444 in (11.28 mm) steel ball halfway into the wood across the grain; a higher number dents less (Handbook p. 5-5).
One source: USDA Forest Products Laboratory, the authority for species properties it measured , sources [1]
So
Density at 12% is water's density × specific gravity × (1 + 0.12) (Handbook Eq. 4-14): 62.43 × 0.66 × 1.12.
Arithmetic: exact by definition , sources [1]
The number
About 46 lb/ft³, or 3.8 lb per board foot (1/12 ft³), at 12% moisture content.
Arithmetic: exact by definition
Sources