Species data
Eastern White Pine
Pinus strobus - a softwood . Also sold as white pine, northern white pine.
Properties at a glance
| Janka hardness | 380 lbf |
| Stiffness (MOE) | 1,240,000 psi |
| Specific gravity | 0.40 |
| Density | 25.0 lb/ft3 (400 kg/m3) |
| Weight per board foot | 2.08 lb |
| Shrinkage, green to oven-dry | 6.1% tangential / 2.1% radial |
| Movement coefficient (CT / CR) | 0.00212 / 0.00071 |
| Indicative price | $4.50 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 White Pine compares
Measured against the 113 solid woods in this database: it is harder than 4% of them, heavier than 5%, and stiffer than 16%. 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 White Pine it weighs about 11.1 lb. A stack of ten is 111 lb - worth knowing before you load a rack or a car.
Against red oak, the trade's usual yardstick at 1,220 lbf, Eastern White Pine is about 31% as hard and 57% as heavy.
Its shrinkage is 6.1% tangential against 2.1% radial, a ratio of 2.9 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 sits in that range.
Woods of similar hardness
Closest to Eastern White Pine on hardness in this database: Sugar Pine (380 lbf), Engelmann Spruce (390 lbf), Balsam Fir (400 lbf), American Basswood (410 lbf). Similar hardness does not mean similar behaviour - check density and movement before substituting one for another.
Related calculators
Sources
- The Wood Database - Eastern White Pine
- 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 (Pine, eastern white). 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.