Hardness Charts and the Janka Scale

Thanks for posting Obi – this is really usefull for me. I have been using the “cherry, brazilian Jatoba 12.5 kn, 2820 lbs” on some projects, I knew it was hard, but not as hard as is described in the document. At least that explains why so many tools became damaged so quickly

-- Tony - All things are possible, just some things are more difficult than others! - SKYPE: Heron2005 (http://www.poydatjatuolit.fi)

It’s funny that you should mention that. I just posted something about the hardness of differents woods.

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/5175

It was concerning the hardness of the sole of a plane I made.

lignum Vitae is the hardest that I know of at 4500
Balsa is so soft it doesn’t even get a rating on the chart.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Don’t overlook Snakewood second hardest on the Janka scale and possibly most beautiful. Thank guys great post. Check out http://www.surfpick.com/hardness/ this is another good list of wood hardness.

-- Iannlb

Great. I knew that snakewood was hard but not how hard!

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Gary, funny you should mention me mentioning it because you mentioned something about it too.
And although Hickory isn’t the hardest available it probably is one of the hardest domestic woods over here, and I’ve done so many projects out of Hickory that one of my router bits starts whimpering whenever i look at it.

Brazillian Cherry is what I make drumsticks out of and give a lifetime guarantee. But then I charge $20.00 a pair.

-- http://ye-olde-cabinet-shoppe.com/

Added this thread to my favorites for future reference.

I added it to my website just because I look at it at least once a week

-- http://ye-olde-cabinet-shoppe.com/

Good stuff Obi. How are the projects going?

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

I was wondering about the numbers of bamboo into this scale…..and must be somewhere, because it is being extensinely used as a flooring material.

-- Francisco Luna, San Francisco Bay Area.

I know epi is so dense it sinks in water but I don’t know were it falls on the hardness scale

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon