Woodworking

Wisconsin Woods and What They're Good For

The local species you'll actually buy or saw - maple, oaks, cherry, walnut, ash, basswood, birch, elm, hickory, white pine, tamarack, cedar - with Wood Handbook density and hardness, and the work each one suits.

  • 4 min
  • 6 steps
  • 3 questions
  • Lesson 26 of 160

In this lesson

  1. Why local wood
  2. Hardwoods
  3. Softwoods
  4. Practical notes
  5. At the bench
  6. What to take from this

Why local wood

Wisconsin has some of the best furniture hardwoods in the world growing in its woodlots, and a portable sawmill or a local sawyer can supply rough lumber for far less than a retail yard. Knowing each species’ character lets you match wood to job.

Numbers below are specific gravity (SG, oven-dry weight relative to volume at 12% moisture; higher is denser) and side hardness at 12% moisture from the Wood Handbook 1.

Hardwoods

Species SG Hardness (lbf) Character and best uses
Sugar (hard) maple 0.63 1,450 Dense, fine, pale; benchtops, cutting boards, flooring, chairs, tool handles. Burns under dull cutters. Curly and bird’s-eye figure.
Red (soft) maple 0.54 950 Softer and easier to work; good secondary and painted wood.
White oak 0.68 1,360 Strong, decay-resistant heartwood, tight vessels; timber frames, outdoor furniture, chairs, Arts and Crafts quartersawn work. Splits beautifully green.
Bur oak 0.64 1,370 A white oak; same uses.
Northern red oak 0.63 1,290 Strong, open-pored, coarse; furniture, trim, flooring. Not for outdoors or watertight work.
Black cherry 0.50 950 Fine, even, planes beautifully; darkens to rich red-brown in light. Furniture and boxes. Blotches under stain.
Black walnut 0.55 1,010 Dark heartwood, works crisply; fine furniture. Southern Wisconsin.
White ash 0.60 1,320 Tough and springy; tool handles, chair parts, bent work, oars.
Yellow birch 0.62 1,260 Strong, fine; furniture, turning, chairs. Paper birch (0.55, 910) for turning and spoons.
American elm 0.50 830 Interlocked grain that resists splitting; chair seats, hubs. Hard to plane.
Shagbark hickory 0.72 1,880 Hardest and toughest; tool handles, chair spindles, bark seat weaving.
Basswood 0.37 410 Soft, fine, even; carving, drawer parts, painted work.
Butternut 0.38 490 Soft, carves well, walnut-like figure; scarce from canker.
Quaking aspen 0.38 350 Light and soft; drawer sides, sauna benches (doesn’t splinter or get hot).
Horizontal bar chart of side (Janka) hardness at 12 percent moisture for Wisconsin species, from shagbark hickory at about 1,880 lbf down through sugar maple 1,450, bur oak 1,370, white oak 1,360, white ash 1,320, northern red oak 1,290, yellow birch 1,260, black walnut 1,010, black cherry and red maple 950, paper birch 910, American elm 830, tamarack 590, red pine 560, hemlock 500, butternut 490, basswood 410, eastern white pine 380, quaking aspen 350, and northern white cedar 320.
Side hardness at 12 percent moisture, Wood Handbook Table 5-3b. Hardwoods in brown, softwoods in green. Credit: StudyCorner chart from Wood Handbook data · CC BY 4.0 · Source

Quick check

You want a carving wood that holds detail, cuts easily across the grain, and is local. Which is the classic choice?

Quick check

Which local wood would you pick for an outdoor bench seat or sill that resists decay?

Softwoods

Species SG Hardness (lbf) Character and best uses
Eastern white pine 0.35 380 Light, soft, even, very stable; the colonial cabinet wood. Chests, painted furniture, patterns, and the material of the classic “Anarchist’s Tool Chest.”
Red pine 0.46 560 Harder, more pitch; utility and construction.
Tamarack 0.53 590 Dense for a conifer, durable heartwood; sills, posts, boat knees from root crooks.
Eastern hemlock 0.40 500 Splintery, coarse; framing and barn boards.
Northern white cedar 0.31 320 Very light, decay-resistant, aromatic; shingles, canoe ribs, outdoor work.

1

Practical notes

  • Ash and emerald ash borer: ash is excellent wood, but emerald ash borer is killing ash trees across Wisconsin. Dead ash dries and checks on the stump; salvage it promptly, and don’t move ash firewood out of quarantined areas.
  • Red versus white oak: check the end grain with a lens; white oak’s pores are plugged with tyloses, red oak’s are open 2.
  • Cherry and light: leave fresh cherry in sun for a few days to start the darkening evenly before finishing.
  • Pine pitch: seal knots with shellac before painting.
  • Hard maple needs sharp tools and dulls them fast; it’s worth it for benchtops and handles.

At the bench

Collect a sample board of five local species. Plane each, cut across the end grain with a chisel, and compare effort, surface, smell, and weight. Note which hold crisp corners and which crush. That feel will guide wood choice better than any table.

What to take from this

Wisconsin’s woodlots give sugar maple (hard, fine), white and bur oak (strong, decay-resistant), red oak (strong, open-pored, not for outdoors), cherry (fine, darkens), walnut, ash (tough, threatened by emerald ash borer), birch, elm, hickory (hardest, toughest), and soft basswood, butternut, and aspen. White pine is the soft, stable cabinet softwood; tamarack and white cedar resist decay. Match density, hardness, and character to the job.

Practice

What’s the main caution about buying or saving ash in Wisconsin now?

Lesson complete

Nice work.

1day streak
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Buying Lumber: Grades, Board Feet, and Rough Stock

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Sources for this lesson
  1. 1
    Christopher Adam Senalik, Benjamin Farber. Mechanical Properties of Wood (Wood Handbook, Chapter 5). USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, FPL-GTR-282. 2021. verifiedTable 5-3b gives specific gravity and side (Janka) hardness at 12% moisture for U.S. species - e.g., sugar maple 0.63/1,450 lbf, white oak 0.68/1,360, northern red oak 0.63/1,290, black cherry 0.50/950, black walnut 0.55/1,010, basswood 0.37/410, eastern white pine 0.35/380.
  2. 2
    R. Bruce Hoadley. Understanding Wood: A Craftsman's Guide to Wood Technology. Taunton Press. 2000. verifiedThe woodworker's standard on wood structure, moisture, shrinkage, and drying.

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