Hard but lightweight woods?

[Luke Dupont]

I was wondering, what would be the lightest commonly available hardwood that is hard enough that it doesn't dent easily like, say, pine? Tulip Poplar is a joy to work and very strong, but it dents quite easily.

I've found that I can get Japanese Ash (Tamo) here quite cheaply. I've got some, and it's very nice, but it's incredibly dense and heavy. Great for some things, but not so great for others where weight might be a concern.

If I recall, Cherry is somewhat on the light side -- lighter than Oak and the like. It's not super hard, but it's a big improvement over pine or poplar, which is great. Any other options I should consider?

[Jim Koepke]

You might try this site > https://tinytimbers.com/resources/janka/

It lists the woods by Janka rating (hardness).

Then compare that chart to the one here on weight per cubic meter > https://extension.psu.edu/calculating-the-green-weight-of-wood-species

jtk

[Scott Brodersen]

The wood database lets you filter by different characteristics -- you could play around with the hardness and density filters: https://www.wood-database.com/wood-filter/

[Tom M King]

Specific gravity (weight and density) go up along with hardness. "dent easily" is relative. Boxwood is a really hard wood, but it's hard to get, and not even available in large sizes. Depends on what you need it for.

[Richard Coers]

You are asking for a unicorn. End grain will dent less than the face grain, if that helps. Difficult to help you a lot since we don't know the application. All woods dent, but some house movers lift a tremendous weight of homes and buildings on wood blocking.

[steven c newman]

Also of note: Luke is IN Japan.....maybe look at the Yellow Cedar...that is used in those hand plane contests....

[Luke Dupont]

You are asking for a unicorn. End grain will dent less than the face grain, if that helps. Difficult to help you a lot since we don't know the application. All woods dent, but some house movers lift a tremendous weight of homes and buildings on wood blocking.

Haha, well -- this occurred to me, and I wondered if this might not be the case.
But, it does seem that some woods have an advantageous hardness / weight ratio. I mentioned Tulip Poplar, and, while soft, it is harder than some pines and other soft woods whilst being the same weight roughly (or just a tad lighter) and is significantly stronger (disregarding its tendency to dent and the like). So, I figured I may be able to find a happy medium, or that there may be some other factors that would make some woods superior in weight / hardness ratio.

[Mark Gibney]

Ash came to mind immediately. I'm not familiar with the Tamo ash you say is dense and heavy, any ash I can get here in LA feels noticeably lighter than white oak.

[Luke Dupont]

Ash came to mind immediately. I'm not familiar with the Tamo ash you say is dense and heavy, any ash I can get here in LA feels noticeably lighter than white oak.


I don't know if this is typical or not, but compared to the Red Oak I used to use in the states, this Tamo I have is noticeably denser and harder.
I was making a marking gauge with several... stems? earlier, and had to do some long rip cuts to cut out stems for the pin and mortise gauges I'm making. Ripping this Tamo is far tougher than any Red Oak that I've worked.

That said, I've not worked a lot of white oak, so I can't really compare there. Japanese White Oak is also extremely hard, dense, and heavy -- more so than this Tamo.

[Rafael Herrera]

I was shown a japanese chisel with a "Gumi" handle, it looks like boxwood, it has a very nice appearance. If you're making small tool handles, this may be something to try where you are.

[Tom Bender]

Hi Luke
You have me wondering about Japanese White Oak vs the White Oak we have in the US. Due to coarse grain ours might not be suitable for gauge parts which need a smooth surface.

[andy bessette]

Bamboo is hard but lightweight.

[Prashun Patel]

What’s the application? You’ll be hard pressed to find a light, dense wood that is not some kind of composite.

I’d look at veneered plywood or bamboo or phenolic plywood if your form allows it.

I can tell you that for electric solid body guitars, swamp ash is prized for its weight / durability characteristics. But it’s becoming more rare. Some makers (I have it on good authority) plan to switch to sassafras. You might consider this wood. I’ve only seen it wild and it smells amazing and is light. I cannot attest to its dent resistance.

[Richard Coers]

The genus Oak consists of 500 species and that is broken down into 2 names of red oak and white oak. So saying white oak has course grain is a broad generalization. White oak is ring porous, but what we have in Illinois is far from a course grain.