Hickory
Among the hardest and toughest of the common North American hardwoods. Dense, shock resistant and used wherever a handle has to survive repeated abuse.
Properties
- Family
- Wood
- Category
- wood
- Species
- Carya spp.
- Density
- 0.82 g/cm³ · 820 kg/m³
Densityhow hickory compares
Wood propertiesUSDA clear-wood values at 12% moisture content
- Species measured
- Shagbark hickory (Carya ovata)
- Specific gravity
- 0.72
- Janka side hardness
- 1,880 lbf · 8,363 N
- Modulus of rupture
- 20,200 psi · 139.3 MPa
- Modulus of elasticity
- 2.16 ×10⁶ psi · 14.89 GPa
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 7% radial · 10.5% tangential · 16.7% volumetric
"Hickory" covers several species. These figures are for shagbark hickory — pecan hickory is softer (1,820 lbf) and pignut harder (2,140 lbf).
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 (0.72 × 1.12 ≈ 0.81 g/cm³). The two come from different sampling programmes, so a few species differ by more than that.
Applicationswhere hickory is normally specified
Appearance & workabilitytrade experience, not measured values
- Origin
- Eastern North America
- Appearance
- Light to medium brown, often with darker streaks; coarse open grain
- Working
- Very hard and tough, and hard on tool edges. Glues well and holds a strong finish.
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
- Hard to work — pre-drill before driving any fastener
Lumber sizeswhat hickory 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 hickory's density of 0.82 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 Hickory
How hard is Hickory?
Janka hardness is 1,880 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 Hickory?
Density is 0.82 g/cm³, and the USDA table gives a specific gravity of 0.72.
How much does Hickory move when it dries?
Green to oven-dry it shrinks 16.7% by volume — 7% radially and 10.5% tangentially. Movement across the grain is what opens joints, so a species that moves a lot wants room to move.
What is Hickory used for?
Typical uses are Tool handles, Axes and hammers, Sports equipment and Flooring.
How does Hickory work with hand and machine tools?
Very hard and tough, and hard on tool edges. Glues well and holds a strong finish.