Species data
Jatoba
Hymenaea courbaril - a hardwood from central America, southern Mexico, northern South America and the West Indies. Also sold as brazilian cherry.
Properties at a glance
| Janka hardness | 2,690 lbf |
| Stiffness (MOE) | 2,745,000 psi |
| Specific gravity | 0.91 |
| Density | 56.8 lb/ft3 (910 kg/m3) |
| Weight per board foot | 4.73 lb |
| Shrinkage, green to oven-dry | 8% tangential / 4.2% 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 Jatoba compares
Measured against the 113 solid woods in this database: it is harder than 91% of them, heavier than 90%, and stiffer than 95%. Hard enough to be tough on edges and on machinery. At this density a full sheet or a long board gets heavy fast; check the shelf-sag and weight tools before you size anything.
What that means in the shop
A 4/4 board 8 inches wide and 8 feet long is 5.33 board feet, so in Jatoba it weighs about 25.2 lb. A stack of ten is 252 lb - worth knowing before you load a rack or a car.
Against red oak, the trade's usual yardstick at 1,220 lbf, Jatoba is about 2.2x as hard and 1.30x as heavy.
Its shrinkage is 8% tangential against 4.2% 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 Jatoba on hardness in this database: Live Oak (2,680 lbf), Olivewood (2,710 lbf), Osage Orange (2,620 lbf), Purpleheart (2,520 lbf). Similar hardness does not mean similar behaviour - check density and movement before substituting one for another.
Working with it
Workability. Density and hardness make it tough; cutters dull moderately, yet it finishes, turns, stains and glues well
Durability. Very durable; rot, termites and most insects fail to harm it
Typical uses. flooring, furniture, cabinetry, tool handles, shipbuilding, railroad ties, turned objects.
Related calculators
Sources
MOE, SG (12% MC), Janka and shrinkage from The Wood Database (cites USDA FPL Wood Handbook). Not in the FPL/Hoadley dimensional-change table, so movement coefficients are omitted. Uses, region, durability, 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.