Wood species
Cherry wood
Cherry is a hardwood (Prunus serotina). At 12% moisture content it has a Janka hardness of 950 lbf (4,226 N) and it weighs about 35 lb/ft³ (560 kg/m³), 2.9 lb (1.32 kg) per board foot.
Also called: black cherry, wild cherry, wild black cherry.
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, 12% MC
- 950 lbf (4,226 N)
- Green: 660 lbf (2,936 N)
- Weight at 12% MC
- 35 lb/ft³ (560 kg/m³)
- 2.9 lb per board foot
- Specific gravity (oven-dry weight)
- 0.50 at 12% MC volume
- 0.47 on green volume
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 7.1% tangential
- Radial 3.7%, volumetric 11.5%
One source: USDA Forest Products Laboratory, the authority for species properties it measured
Why: Measured by the USDA Forest Products Laboratory; cherry's density is worked from its specific gravity with the Handbook's own equation.
How much cherry moves
A 12 in wide flatsawn board of black cherry that goes from 6% to 12% moisture content swells about 0.18 in (about 3/16 in, 4.5 mm). Quartersawn, the same board moves about 0.09 in (about 3/32 in, 2.3 mm). Flatsawn faces move 1.9 times as much as quartersawn ones, because the wood shrinks 7.1% around the growth rings but only 3.7% across them.
Worked with the Wood Handbook's dimensional change coefficients for black cherry (Table 13-5: 0.00248 tangential, 0.00126 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
- Light to dark reddish-brown heartwood with a distinctive luster; nearly white sapwood, narrow in old trees and wider in second growth.
- Grain and texture
- Fairly uniform texture.
- Working and character
- Moderately heavy, strong, stiff and moderately hard, with high shock resistance and very good machining. Its shrinkage from green is moderately high, but it is very stable once dry.
- Uses
- Furniture, fine veneer panels and architectural woodwork; also caskets, wooden ware and patterns.
Adapted in our own words from the Wood Handbook, Chapter 2, p. 2-6.
Strength
Bending strength is the modulus of rupture (MOR); stiffness is the modulus of elasticity (MOE). Clear, straight-grained samples of black cherry 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) | 8,000 psi (55 MPa) | 12,300 psi (85 MPa) |
| Stiffness (MOE) | 1,310,000 psi (9 GPa) | 1,490,000 psi (10.3 GPa) |
| Crushing strength (compression parallel to grain) | 3,540 psi (24 MPa) | 7,110 psi (49 MPa) |
| Compression perpendicular to grain | 360 psi (2 MPa) | 690 psi (5 MPa) |
| Shear parallel to grain | 1,130 psi (8 MPa) | 1,700 psi (12 MPa) |
| Tension perpendicular to grain | 570 psi (4 MPa) | 560 psi (4 MPa) |
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
Why these numbers
Why these numbers?
The situation
The USDA Forest Products Laboratory measured black cherry at 950 lbf of side hardness at 12% moisture content, on clear, straight-grained samples (Wood Handbook Table 5-3b).
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 × 0.50 × 1.12.
Arithmetic: exact by definition , sources [1]
The number
About 35 lb/ft³, or 2.9 lb per board foot (1/12 ft³), at 12% moisture content.
Arithmetic: exact by definition
Sources