Species data
Bigtooth Aspen
Populus grandidentata - a hardwood from northeastern North America.
Properties at a glance
| Janka hardness | 420 lbf |
| Stiffness (MOE) | 1,430,000 psi |
| Specific gravity | 0.43 |
| Density | 26.8 lb/ft3 (430 kg/m3) |
| Weight per board foot | 2.24 lb |
| Shrinkage, green to oven-dry | 7.9% tangential / 3.3% radial |
| Indicative price | $3.00 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 Bigtooth Aspen compares
Measured against the 113 solid woods in this database: it is harder than 8% of them, heavier than 15%, and stiffer than 31%. 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 Bigtooth Aspen it weighs about 11.9 lb. A stack of ten is 119 lb - worth knowing before you load a rack or a car.
Against red oak, the trade's usual yardstick at 1,220 lbf, Bigtooth Aspen is about 34% as hard and 61% as heavy.
Its shrinkage is 7.9% tangential against 3.3% radial, a ratio of 2.4 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 sits in that range.
Woods of similar hardness
Closest to Bigtooth Aspen on hardness in this database: American Basswood (410 lbf), Black Willow (430 lbf), Eastern Cottonwood (430 lbf), Noble Fir (410 lbf). Similar hardness does not mean similar behaviour - check density and movement before substituting one for another.
Working with it
Workability. Needs sharp tools to avoid fuzzy surfaces, holds nails poorly, and warps as it dries
Durability. Non-durable and open to insect attack, offering essentially no resistance to decay outdoors
Typical uses. boxes, crates, veneer, plywood, utility wood.
Related calculators
Sources
MOE, SG (12% MC), Janka and shrinkage from The Wood Database (which cites the USDA FPL Wood Handbook). Bigtooth Aspen is not individually listed in the printed FPL/Hoadley dimensional change coefficient chart, so CT/CR are omitted. 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.