Species data
Black Cherry
Prunus serotina - a hardwood . Also sold as american cherry, wild black cherry.
Properties at a glance
| Janka hardness | 950 lbf |
| Stiffness (MOE) | 1,490,000 psi |
| Specific gravity | 0.56 |
| Density | 34.9 lb/ft3 (560 kg/m3) |
| Weight per board foot | 2.91 lb |
| Shrinkage, green to oven-dry | 7.1% tangential / 3.7% radial |
| Movement coefficient (CT / CR) | 0.00248 / 0.00126 |
| Indicative price | $8.00 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 Black Cherry compares
Measured against the 113 solid woods in this database: it is harder than 48% of them, heavier than 38%, and stiffer than 37%.
What that means in the shop
A 4/4 board 8 inches wide and 8 feet long is 5.33 board feet, so in Black Cherry it weighs about 15.5 lb. A stack of ten is 155 lb - worth knowing before you load a rack or a car.
Against red oak, the trade's usual yardstick at 1,220 lbf, Black Cherry is about 78% as hard and 80% as heavy.
Its shrinkage is 7.1% tangential against 3.7% radial, a ratio of 1.9 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 Black Cherry on hardness in this database: Red Maple (950 lbf), Imbuia (970 lbf), Anigre (990 lbf), Paper Birch (910 lbf). Similar hardness does not mean similar behaviour - check density and movement before substituting one for another.
Related calculators
Sources
- The Wood Database - Black Cherry
- Dimensional change coefficient table (USDA FPL Wood Handbook, Table 13-5; values per Hoadley, Understanding Wood)
MOE, shrinkage, Janka, and SG from The Wood Database (which cites the USDA FPL Wood Handbook). CT/CR from USDA FPL Wood Handbook Table 13-5 (Cherry, black). Price indicative only.
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.