Species data
Bald Cypress
Taxodium distichum - a softwood from southeastern United States. Also sold as swamp cypress, tidewater red cypress, pecky cypress.
Properties at a glance
| Janka hardness | 510 lbf |
| Stiffness (MOE) | 1,440,000 psi |
| Specific gravity | 0.51 |
| Density | 31.8 lb/ft3 (510 kg/m3) |
| Weight per board foot | 2.65 lb |
| Shrinkage, green to oven-dry | 6.2% tangential / 3.8% radial |
| Movement coefficient (CT / CR) | 0.00216 / 0.00130 |
| Indicative price | $5.00 per board foot (estimated) |
Values are at about 12% moisture content. Density is specific gravity times 62.4; a board foot is one twelfth of a cubic foot, so weight per board foot is that density divided by twelve. Anything marked estimated is our own figure, not a measured one.
How Bald Cypress compares
Measured against the 113 solid woods in this database: it is harder than 19% of them, heavier than 27%, and stiffer than 32%. Soft enough to dent in service - worth knowing before using it for a worktop or a floor.
What that means in the shop
A 4/4 board 8 inches wide and 8 feet long is 5.33 board feet, so in Bald Cypress it weighs about 14.1 lb. A stack of ten is 141 lb - worth knowing before you load a rack or a car.
Against red oak, the trade's usual yardstick at 1,220 lbf, Bald Cypress is about 42% as hard and 73% as heavy.
Its shrinkage is 6.2% tangential against 3.8% radial, a ratio of 1.6 to 1. The wider that ratio, the more unevenly a flatsawn board moves across its width as humidity changes, and the more it wants to cup; anything near or above 2 to 1 is worth quartersawing or restraining for panels and wide tops. This one moves comparatively evenly.
Woods of similar hardness
Closest to Bald Cypress on hardness in this database: Sitka Spruce (510 lbf), Eastern Hemlock (500 lbf), Butternut (490 lbf), Red Spruce (490 lbf). Similar hardness does not mean similar behaviour - check density and movement before substituting one for another.
Working with it
Workability. Sharp blades and shallow cuts prevent tearout; nails, glues, paints and finishes well
Durability. Old-growth ranks durable to very durable, while second-growth rates only moderately durable
Typical uses. exterior construction, exterior furniture, docks, boatbuilding, interior trim, veneer.
Related calculators
Sources
- The Wood Database - Bald Cypress
- Dimensional change coefficient table (Hoadley / FPL Wood Handbook), reproduced by Popular Woodworking
MOE, SG (12% MC), Janka and shrinkage from The Wood Database (cites USDA FPL Wood Handbook). CT/CR from the "Bald cypress" row of the FPL/Hoadley table. Uses, region, durability and workability summarized from The Wood Database. Price indicative.
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.