Birch (Yellow Birch)
Dense hardwood, widely used in plywood and cabinetry. Yellow birch is harder and heavier than paper birch, and is often substituted for maple where the surface is not the point.
Properties
- Family
- Wood
- Category
- wood
- Species
- Betula alleghaniensis
- Density
- 0.69 g/cm³ · 690 kg/m³
Densityhow birch (yellow birch) compares
Wood propertiesUSDA clear-wood values at 12% moisture content
- Species measured
- Yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis)
- Specific gravity
- 0.62
- Janka side hardness
- 1,260 lbf · 5,605 N
- Modulus of rupture
- 16,600 psi · 114.5 MPa
- Modulus of elasticity
- 2.01 ×10⁶ psi · 13.86 GPa
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 7.3% radial · 9.5% tangential · 16.8% volumetric
Source: USDA Forest Service, Wood Handbook — Wood as an Engineering Material (FPL-GTR-190, 2010), Table 5–3b, for clear straight-grained specimens at 12% moisture content. The grey figures are converted at 1 lbf = 4.448 N, 1 psi = 6.895 kPa and 1 GPa = 145,038 psi; the inch-pound numbers are the published ones. Specific gravity is oven-dry mass over volume at 12% moisture content, so it sits about 12% below the working density at the top of this page (0.62 × 1.12 ≈ 0.69 g/cm³). The two come from different sampling programmes, so a few species differ by more than that.
Applicationswhere birch (yellow birch) is normally specified
Appearance & workabilitytrade experience, not measured values
- Origin
- Eastern North America
- Appearance
- Light reddish-brown, fine and even texture with a straight grain
- Working
- Works much like hard maple, but takes stain more evenly — which is why it is the usual substitute where a maple look is wanted.
Unlike the USDA figures above, these lines are not measurements: they carry no units and no single source. They describe how the timber is generally found to behave rather than what it is guaranteed to do — read them as the consensus of the trade, not as a specification.
Practical notes
- Density is for air-dried stock at about 12% moisture content
- Yellow birch is the dense species; paper birch is much lighter
Lumber sizeswhat birch (yellow birch) weighs in each nominal size
Lumber size databaseDressed sizes are the same for every species — a 2x4 is 1-1/2 x 3-1/2 in in oak as much as in spruce. What changes is the weight, and that is derived here from birch (yellow birch)'s density of 0.69 g/cm³.
Tools used on itmatched on the wood family, not on this page
All toolsWhich tools work a material is a property of the family (Wood), not of the individual species — so this list is the same on every wood page, and changes when the tool data changes rather than when this paragraph does.
Frequently asked questionsthe questions this page answers about Birch (Yellow Birch)
How hard is Birch (Yellow Birch)?
Janka hardness is 1,260 lbf — the force needed to push a steel ball halfway into the wood. Higher is harder; this is the number quoted when a wood is specified for floors, worktops or butcher blocks.
How dense is Birch (Yellow Birch)?
Density is 0.69 g/cm³, and the USDA table gives a specific gravity of 0.62.
How much does Birch (Yellow Birch) move when it dries?
Green to oven-dry it shrinks 16.8% by volume — 7.3% radially and 9.5% tangentially. Movement across the grain is what opens joints, so a species that moves a lot wants room to move.
What is Birch (Yellow Birch) used for?
Typical uses are Plywood, Cabinetry, Furniture and Interior joinery.
How does Birch (Yellow Birch) work with hand and machine tools?
Works much like hard maple, but takes stain more evenly — which is why it is the usual substitute where a maple look is wanted.