Reference chart

Lumber Weight Chart

Weight of 113 woods: pounds per board foot, pounds per cubic foot and kg/m3, computed from specific gravity at 12% moisture content.

Wood weight follows almost entirely from density, and density follows from specific gravity. The table below gives every wood in our species database three ways: pounds per cubic foot, pounds per board foot (the unit hardwood is actually sold in), and kg/m³ for metric work. At the extremes, African Blackwood runs about 79.2 lb/ft³ and Western Redcedar about 23.1 lb/ft³ - a factor of about 3.

How these numbers were worked out

Density in pounds per cubic foot is specific gravity times 62.4, the weight of a cubic foot of water. A board foot is one twelfth of a cubic foot, so the weight of one board foot is that density divided by twelve. Nothing here is copied from another weight table: each specific gravity comes from our own species records, and each of those carries its own citation on the species page.

These are air-dry weights at about 12% moisture content, the condition kiln-dried lumber reaches in a normal shop. Green lumber is far heavier - freshly sawn oak can run half again to double these figures - and wood picks weight back up in a damp shop. Treat the table as a planning number for load, shipping and racking, not as a measurement of the particular board in your hand. Density also varies within a species by growth rate and by where in the tree the board came from, so a few percent either way is normal.

Weight of common woods

Wood	Specific gravity	lb / ft³	lb / board foot	kg / m³
African Blackwood	1.27	79.2	6.60	1270
Lignum Vitae	1.26	78.6	6.55	1260
Cocobolo	1.10	68.6	5.72	1100
Cumaru	1.09	68.0	5.67	1090
Massaranduba	1.08	67.4	5.62	1080
Bloodwood	1.05	65.5	5.46	1050
Ipe	1.05	65.5	5.46	1050
Pink Ivory	1.04	64.9	5.41	1040
Live Oak	1.00	62.4	5.20	1000
Olivewood	0.98	61.2	5.10	980
Gaboon Ebony	0.96	59.9	4.99	960
Goncalo Alves	0.91	56.8	4.73	910
Jatoba	0.91	56.8	4.73	910
Santos Mahogany	0.91	56.8	4.73	910
Purpleheart	0.90	56.2	4.68	900
Bubinga	0.89	55.5	4.63	890
Leopardwood	0.89	55.5	4.63	890
Pau Ferro	0.87	54.3	4.52	870
Wenge	0.87	54.3	4.52	870
East Indian Rosewood	0.86	53.7	4.47	860
Osage Orange	0.86	53.7	4.47	860
Bocote	0.85	53.0	4.42	850
Lyptus	0.85	53.0	4.42	850
Canarywood	0.83	51.8	4.32	830
Persimmon	0.83	51.8	4.32	830
Yellowheart	0.83	51.8	4.32	830
Garapa	0.82	51.2	4.26	820
Zebrawood	0.81	50.5	4.21	810
Ziricote	0.81	50.5	4.21	810
Shagbark Hickory	0.80	49.9	4.16	800
American Hornbeam	0.79	49.3	4.11	790
Black Locust	0.77	48.0	4.00	770
Swamp White Oak	0.77	48.0	4.00	770
Willow Oak	0.77	48.0	4.00	770
African Padauk	0.75	46.8	3.90	750
Chestnut Oak	0.75	46.8	3.90	750
Honey Locust	0.75	46.8	3.90	750
White Oak	0.75	46.8	3.90	750
European Hornbeam	0.74	46.2	3.85	740
Pecan	0.74	46.2	3.85	740
Afrormosia	0.72	44.9	3.74	720
American Beech	0.72	44.9	3.74	720
Bur Oak	0.72	44.9	3.74	720
European Beech	0.71	44.3	3.69	710
Hard Maple	0.71	44.3	3.69	710
Pin Oak	0.71	44.3	3.69	710
Red Oak	0.70	43.7	3.64	700
Makore	0.69	43.1	3.59	690
Yellow Birch	0.69	43.1	3.59	690
Sapele	0.67	41.8	3.48	670
White Ash	0.67	41.8	3.48	670
Imbuia	0.66	41.2	3.43	660
Iroko	0.66	41.2	3.43	660
Teak	0.66	41.2	3.43	660
Longleaf Pine	0.65	40.6	3.38	650
American Holly	0.64	39.9	3.33	640
Black Walnut	0.61	38.1	3.17	610
Koa	0.61	38.1	3.17	610
Oregon Ash	0.61	38.1	3.17	610
Paper Birch	0.61	38.1	3.17	610
Red Maple	0.61	38.1	3.17	610
Hackberry	0.60	37.4	3.12	600
Monkeypod	0.60	37.4	3.12	600
Red Elm	0.60	37.4	3.12	600
Honduran Mahogany	0.59	36.8	3.07	590
Sweet Chestnut	0.59	36.8	3.07	590
Tamarack	0.59	36.8	3.07	590
Western Larch	0.58	36.2	3.02	580
Loblolly Pine	0.57	35.6	2.96	570
Shortleaf Pine	0.57	35.6	2.96	570
American Elm	0.56	34.9	2.91	560
Black Cherry	0.56	34.9	2.91	560
American Sycamore	0.55	34.3	2.86	550
Anigre	0.55	34.3	2.86	550
Bigleaf Maple	0.55	34.3	2.86	550
Black Ash	0.55	34.3	2.86	550
Black Tupelo	0.55	34.3	2.86	550
Red Pine	0.55	34.3	2.86	550
Sweetgum	0.55	34.3	2.86	550
African Mahogany	0.54	33.7	2.81	540
Eastern Redcedar	0.53	33.1	2.76	530
Silver Maple	0.53	33.1	2.76	530
Bald Cypress	0.51	31.8	2.65	510
Douglas-Fir	0.51	31.8	2.65	510
Alaska Yellow Cedar	0.50	31.2	2.60	500
Jack Pine	0.50	31.2	2.60	500
Sassafras	0.50	31.2	2.60	500
Lodgepole Pine	0.47	29.3	2.44	470
Port Orford Cedar	0.47	29.3	2.44	470
Spanish Cedar	0.47	29.3	2.44	470
Northern Catalpa	0.46	28.7	2.39	460
Yellow Poplar	0.46	28.7	2.39	460
Eastern Cottonwood	0.45	28.1	2.34	450
Eastern Hemlock	0.45	28.1	2.34	450
Ponderosa Pine	0.45	28.1	2.34	450
Red Alder	0.45	28.1	2.34	450
Bigtooth Aspen	0.43	26.8	2.24	430
Butternut	0.43	26.8	2.24	430
Red Spruce	0.43	26.8	2.24	430
White Spruce	0.43	26.8	2.24	430
American Basswood	0.42	26.2	2.18	420
Black Willow	0.42	26.2	2.18	420
Noble Fir	0.42	26.2	2.18	420
Quaking Aspen	0.42	26.2	2.18	420
Redwood	0.42	26.2	2.18	420
Sitka Spruce	0.42	26.2	2.18	420
White Fir	0.42	26.2	2.18	420
Balsam Fir	0.40	25.0	2.08	400
Eastern White Pine	0.40	25.0	2.08	400
Sugar Pine	0.40	25.0	2.08	400
Engelmann Spruce	0.39	24.3	2.03	390
Incense Cedar	0.38	23.7	1.98	380
Western Redcedar	0.37	23.1	1.92	370

Working out the weight of a specific board

Take the board feet of the piece and multiply by the pounds-per-board-foot figure above. A 4/4 board 8 inches wide and 8 feet long is 5.33 board feet; in white oak at about 3.90 lb per board foot that is roughly 20.8 pounds. For an arbitrary board the wood weight calculator does the same arithmetic from dimensions, and the board foot calculator gives you the board feet to start from.

Related calculators

Sources

These calculators are for planning and estimation. Engineering results (shelf sag, wood movement) use published average material properties; real boards vary by grade, grain, moisture and defects. Verify load-bearing designs with a professional.