Species data
Butternut
Juglans cinerea - a hardwood from eastern United States. Also sold as white walnut.
Properties at a glance
| Janka hardness | 490 lbf |
| Stiffness (MOE) | 1,180,000 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 | 6.4% tangential / 3.4% radial |
| Indicative price | $7.00 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 Butternut compares
Measured against the 113 solid woods in this database: it is harder than 17% of them, heavier than 15%, and stiffer than 10%. 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 Butternut 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, Butternut is about 40% as hard and 61% as heavy.
Its shrinkage is 6.4% tangential against 3.4% 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 Butternut on hardness in this database: Red Spruce (490 lbf), Eastern Hemlock (500 lbf), Lodgepole Pine (480 lbf), White Fir (480 lbf). Similar hardness does not mean similar behaviour - check density and movement before substituting one for another.
Working with it
Workability. Easy overall, though fuzzy surfaces call for keen blades and fine abrasives; stains, finishes and glues well
Durability. Spans moderately durable to non-durable; vulnerable to boring insects
Typical uses. furniture, carving, veneer, interior trim, boxes.
Related calculators
Sources
MOE, SG (12% MC), Janka and shrinkage from The Wood Database (cites USDA FPL Wood Handbook). Uses, region, durability and workability summarized from The Wood Database. Butternut is not listed in the FPL/Hoadley dimensional change coefficient table, so CT/CR are omitted. 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.