Species data
Honey Locust
Gleditsia triacanthos - a hardwood from south-central and eastern United States.
Properties at a glance
| Janka hardness | 1,580 lbf |
| Stiffness (MOE) | 1,630,000 psi |
| Specific gravity | 0.75 |
| Density | 46.8 lb/ft3 (750 kg/m3) |
| Weight per board foot | 3.90 lb |
| Shrinkage, green to oven-dry | 6.6% tangential / 4.2% radial |
| Indicative price | $6.00 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 Honey Locust compares
Measured against the 113 solid woods in this database: it is harder than 70% of them, heavier than 70%, and stiffer than 50%.
What that means in the shop
A 4/4 board 8 inches wide and 8 feet long is 5.33 board feet, so in Honey Locust it weighs about 20.8 lb. A stack of ten is 208 lb - worth knowing before you load a rack or a car.
Against red oak, the trade's usual yardstick at 1,220 lbf, Honey Locust is about 1.3x as hard and 1.07x as heavy.
Its shrinkage is 6.6% tangential against 4.2% radial, a ratio of 1.6 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 Honey Locust on hardness in this database: Afrormosia (1,570 lbf), Swamp White Oak (1,600 lbf), European Hornbeam (1,630 lbf), Canarywood (1,520 lbf). Similar hardness does not mean similar behaviour - check density and movement before substituting one for another.
Working with it
Workability. Density can make it hard going, though results are usually good; finishes, stains, glues and turns well
Durability. Moderately durable to durable, yet open to insect attack
Typical uses. furniture, fence posts, utility lumber, turned objects.
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. Honey Locust 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.