how hard is hickory on the janka scale

What is the Janka rating of hickory wood?

For example, hickory hardwood has a Janka rating of 1820; this means that it required 1,820 pounds of force to embed the steel ball into hickory’s surface. The hardness and density of wood is often determined by the direction of its grain.

What is the Janka scale?

The Janka scale is used to determine the relative hardness of particular domestic or exotic wood species. The Janka test measures the amount of force required to embed a 0.444" steel ball into the wood to half of its diameter. Woods with a higher rating are harder than woods with a lower rating.

What does Janka hardness mean?

Janka Hardness. The Janka scale is used to determine the relative hardness of particular domestic or exotic wood species. The Janka test measures the amount of force required to embed a 0.444" steel ball into the wood to half of its diameter. Woods with a higher rating are harder than woods with a lower rating.

Is Janka hardwood flooring any good?

Though no wood on the scale has this rating, a rating like this would not make for a good floor. The highest rating on the scale is a 4000, making for an extremely hardwood, also not likely suitable for flooring because it would be so difficult to saw. This is where the Janka rating starts to get confusing for most.

Which wood is harder oak or hickory?

Hardness and Durability As the hardest domestic wood, hickory obviously outshines both red and white oak in terms of durability. Softer woods may dent or scratch beneath careless footfalls, but hickory is more likely to withstand the abuse. This makes it an ideal choice in homes with a lot of activity and traffic.

Do hickory floors scratch easily?

If you're looking for scratch-resistant flooring, you're in luck. Hickory wood scores a whopping 1820 on the Janka scale. That makes hickory more than 30% stronger than white oak, one of the most common types of flooring in the world.

What is the hardest wood on the Janka scale?

Australian Buloke1. Australian Buloke – 5,060 IBF. An ironwood tree that is native to Australia, this wood comes from a species of tree occurring across most of Eastern and Southern Australia. Known as the hardest wood in the world, this particular type has a Janka hardness of 5,060 lbf.

Where is hickory on the hardness scale?

As a species, hickory is rated at 1820 on the Janka hardness scale—the hardest domestic species.

Which is harder walnut or hickory?

Hickory is among the hardest domestic hardwoods with a Janka rating of 1820, while American or Black Walnut is among the softest with a rating of 1010.

Which is more durable hickory or Maple?

Both Maple and Hickory are among the denser hardwoods used in flooring, but Hickory is the clear winner here. According to the NWFA, Maple has a Janka hardness rating of 1450 while Hickory clocks in at 1820, making it the hardest of the domestic hardwoods.

What is the most scratch resistant hardwood flooring?

Selecting a floor such as Hickory, Hard Maple or White Oak can protect your floor from damage, as these hardwoods are less susceptible to scratches than softer woods like Pine, Cherry or Black Walnut. Hardwoods with more dramatic grain patterns can help to hide scratches more easily.

What is a good Janka rating?

What is a Good Janka Rating? A good Janka rating for wood flooring is generally anything that is 1,000 lbs. and the industry mean is around 1,200 lbs. An important thing to keep in mind in selecting your flooring material is the needs of your space.

What does hickory lumber look like?

Hickory is a straight-grain wood with colors ranging from reddish brown to white. As a deciduous tree indigenous to temperate regions, it produces clear aging rings within its trunk.

Is hickory the hardest wood?

Wood Properties of Hickory It is considered an extremely durable wood, thought to be able to withstand nearly anything. On the Janka scale, hickory comes in at an impressive 1820. That's about 41% harder than the traditional Red Oak. It is the second hardest hardwood species in North America.

Which is harder ash or hickory?

Which is stronger: Ash or Hickory? With a Janka hardness rating of 1320, Ash is a very durable species of hardwood that can easily be installed in high-traffic areas. But with a hardness rating of 1820, Hickory is among the strongest hardwoods commonly used for flooring.

Why is hickory flooring hard to install?

Hickory's density does make it challenging to install. Solid, unfinished hickory flooring's pros may be exceeded by its cons for anyone other than hardwood flooring professionals. The hardness makes cutting and sanding a bit challenging, and the dense grain further complicates staining and finishing efforts.

When was Janka hardness measured?

How is Janka Hardness Measured? Invented in 1906 by Austrian wood researcher Gabriel Janka, the Janka Hardness Test is an adaption of the Brinell Hardness Test for metals.

What is Janka wood?

The Janka Wood Hardness scale is a way to measure a wood’s resistance to dents, scratches and wear. The higher the Janka rating, the more resistant that particular wood is. The Janka Hardness scale is commonly used in the flooring industry as a way to compare types of hardwood flooring for both practical durability and for ...

Which is the fourth hardest hardwood?

While very hard and durable, in reality, oak ranks as the fourth hardest of the North American hardwoods. Hickory, with a Janka Hardness rating of 1820, leads the pack, followed by maple and then ash. So just what is Janka Hardness?

What is Janka hardness?

It is important to remember that the testing process used in the Janka scale is an impact test, not a test of scratching, scuffing, or any other wear and tear that flooring experiences. To learn the basic hardness of different common woods used in flooring, check the chart below.

What is the hardest wood?

While it may seem logical to pick the very hardest wood, keep these points in mind: 1 Softwood can be hardened to some degree by the application of polyurethane finishes. 2 Hardwood is always much more expensive than the softer woods. 3 Hardwood is more difficult to saw, drill, and nail than other woods, requiring more time and labor—which translates into a greater expense. 4 Softwood can work well in some applications—decks, shops, and outbuildings, for example.

What is a hardwood tree?

Hardwoods are from trees that are identified as dicot species. Dicots are plants in which the seed has two embryonic leaves (cotyledons). This is in contrast to softwood species, which are angiosperms —plants in which the seeds are unenclosed, as the pine cones of conifers.

What is the most durable wood for flooring?

The most durable flooring woods will be hardwoods such as oak, walnut, ebony , maple, ash, and pecan. Softwoods such as fir, pine, and hemlock rarely work well as flooring materials, except in a shop or utility area. For the hardest woods, you need to look for exotics, not domestics.

Is hardwood flooring hard?

It is not enough to simply pick any so-called hardwood species, because hardwoods vary quite a lot in their hardness from species to species, and some are actually softer than some softwood species. ...

Is Janka hardness test applied to bamboo?

In fact, these plants are not wood at all but are instead grasses. The Janka hardness test is often applied to bamboo and eucalyptus flooring products after manufacturing—a process that artificially hardens the material by the addition of resins.

Is engineered wood solid hardwood?

Solid hardwood, not engineered wood. Engineered wood has a thin veneer of real hardwood on top of dimensionally stable plywood. Even if that veneer happens to be the hardest wood possible, such as Brazilian walnut or ebony, that veneer is still not thick enough to make the flooring truly durable.

How hard is Brazilian cherry?

The popular Brazilian Cherry is 2,350 – almost twice as hard as red oak. And, Brazilian walnut comes in at 3,684 – nearly triple the hardness of red oak. Below is a listing of many hardwoods so you can see the range of hardness.

What is the difference between white oak and red oak?

Red oak is used as the standard and its hardness is 1,290 on the Janka scale. White oak is just a bit harder at 1,360. Bamboo is a bit harder at 1,380 (see my past blog on bamboo flooring – is it hard or soft?) and maple a bit harder than that at 1,450.

Is pine a hardwood?

You’ll also note that most of the pines (which were used a LONG time ago) are low. They are rather soft and aren’t even considered hardwoods. They can dent very easily. Also note that there are some woods such as “cherry” and “walnut” that vary greatly based on their country of origin.

What is Janka scale?

The Janka Hardness Scale determines the hardness of a particular type of wood over another. The scale was invented in 1906 by Gabriel Janka, an Austrian wood researcher, and standardized in 1927 by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM).

What is the strongest material on the Janka scale?

Promising strength and hardness comparable to exotics like Eucalyptus (4000 – 5000 Janka rating), strand woven bamboo is rated as one of the strongest materials on the Janka Scale period. Depending on the quality of manufacturing, the best bamboo flooring products can range from 3,800 – 5,000.

What is the best wood flooring?

Oak is the most popular wood flooring choice, but where does it rank on the scale? White oak has a rating of 1360 and red oak has a rating of 1260. Other flooring types rate harder and softer than this, so what makes oak so special? Most likely it is the abundance of oak available for sawmills leading to its mass production for flooring purposes that makes it an affordable option. The more affordable something is to the general public, the more widely used it is likely to be. This isn’t to say that oak isn’t a strong wood, as oak planks are an excellent choice for homes. Going strictly by the Janka rating, there are other choices out there for harder woods.

What kind of wood is used in home A?

Home A uses a softwood, such as American Cherry (950 on the Janka Scale). The owners take extreme care in cleaning the floor and keeping the sand from the inside of the home. Ten years after the installation, the flooring looks as new as it did the day it was installed.

What does hardness mean on a floor?

The hardness serves only as an indicator of how well the floor will withstand wear and tear day to day, rather than how strong the wood is. Do not relate the hardness or softness to the way the wood feels, as this has no bearing on that aspect of the flooring.

What to consider when choosing Mongolian teak?

One thing to consider with Mongolian teak is the type of climate you have in the area you live. If there are large changes in humidity during the seasons you may want to go with a domestic species or engineered hardwood rather than teak. Exotic species of hardwood are more susceptible to changes in humidity.

Is Janka hard wood flooring bad?

The residents of the home include children and pets, all of whom stay active. The Janka Hardness Scale may lead people to believe this would be a bad flooring choice, when in all actuality, it may be the perfect one! Home B uses a fairly hard wood, such as Brazilian Cherry(2820 on the Janka Scale).

What is the Janka score?

In the image below featuring different types of wood, you can see that strand woven bamboo and eucalyptus are at the top of the list with a Janka rating of 4000 to 5000.

What unit does Janka hardness test use?

Whilst here in the US we measure in pounds-force, in Australia they measure in Newton or Kilo Newton. Some results are also treated in units aptly named Janka.

What is the Janka rating for bamboo flooring?

Strand woven bamboo and eucalyptus flooring, on average, have Janka ratings upwards of 3,800, which is much higher than traditional wood flooring. Although some tests have shown bamboo and eucalyptus to be over 5,000 on the Janka scale, the truth is that Janka hardness ratings can vary from lot to lot (even when produced by the same factory).

Is stranded bamboo flooring more durable than straight bamboo?

For example, stranded bamboo flooring is made from bamboo stands that have been laid in a cross direction and is therefore more durable than your average bamboo flooring that has been laid straight.

Is bamboo flooring hard?

While the hardness benefits of strand bamboo flooring, demonstrated on the bamboo flooring hardness scale, make it a practical choice for your home or workplace, you must take care when choosing a brand. Problems can arise if the density and moisture content in the strand compression process is not managed carefully. You have to keep in mind that for a flooring topcoat finish to be stable, it must permeate the wood in order to hold a lasting bond. If the underlying material is too dense, the topcoat layer may not be absorbed by the wood fully and this may cause a number of problems down the line. Another common problem with high density woods is, if manufactured incorrectly they may expand and contract more leading to shrinkage problems.

Hardwoods and Softwoods

Janka Hardness Ratings of Wood Species

Considerations When Choosing Flooring

Bamboo and Eucalyptus

• Some of the hardest floors available are strand-woven bamboo and eucalyptus, where you may see Janka ratings at levels from 3,800 to over 5,000, making them harder than all hardwoods. Yet these are not hardwoods. In fact, these plants are not wood at all but are instead grasses. The Janka hardness test is often applied to bamboo and eucalyptus floo...

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Other Considerations