Species data
Eastern Hemlock
Tsuga canadensis - a softwood from eastern North America. Also sold as canadian hemlock.
Properties at a glance
| Janka hardness | 500 lbf |
| Stiffness (MOE) | 1,200,000 psi |
| Specific gravity | 0.45 |
| Density | 28.1 lb/ft3 (450 kg/m3) |
| Weight per board foot | 2.34 lb |
| Shrinkage, green to oven-dry | 6.8% tangential / 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 Eastern Hemlock compares
Measured against the 113 solid woods in this database: it is harder than 18% of them, heavier than 19%, and stiffer than 13%. 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 Eastern Hemlock it weighs about 12.5 lb. A stack of ten is 125 lb - worth knowing before you load a rack or a car.
Against red oak, the trade's usual yardstick at 1,220 lbf, Eastern Hemlock is about 41% as hard and 64% as heavy.
Its shrinkage is 6.8% tangential against 3% radial, a ratio of 2.3 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 Eastern Hemlock on hardness in this database: Bald Cypress (510 lbf), Butternut (490 lbf), Red Spruce (490 lbf), Sitka Spruce (510 lbf). Similar hardness does not mean similar behaviour - check density and movement before substituting one for another.
Working with it
Workability. Prone to splintering and planes badly; alternating soft and hard grain sands unevenly; stains, finishes and glues well
Durability. Non-durable, offering insects an easy and ready target
Typical uses. construction lumber, framing, boxes, pallets, crates, plywood.
Related calculators
Sources
MOE, SG (12% MC), Janka and shrinkage from The Wood Database (cites USDA FPL Wood Handbook). Eastern Hemlock is not listed in the FPL/Hoadley dimensional change coefficient table (which lists western hemlock only), 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.