Species data
Persimmon
Diospyros virginiana - a hardwood from eastern United States. Also sold as white ebony, common persimmon.
Properties at a glance
| Janka hardness | 2,300 lbf |
| Stiffness (MOE) | 2,010,000 psi |
| Specific gravity | 0.83 |
| Density | 51.8 lb/ft3 (830 kg/m3) |
| Weight per board foot | 4.32 lb |
| Shrinkage, green to oven-dry | 11.2% tangential / 7.9% radial |
| Indicative price | $9.00 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 Persimmon compares
Measured against the 113 solid woods in this database: it is harder than 85% of them, heavier than 80%, and stiffer than 78%. Hard enough to be tough on edges and on machinery.
What that means in the shop
A 4/4 board 8 inches wide and 8 feet long is 5.33 board feet, so in Persimmon it weighs about 23.0 lb. A stack of ten is 230 lb - worth knowing before you load a rack or a car.
Against red oak, the trade's usual yardstick at 1,220 lbf, Persimmon is about 1.9x as hard and 1.19x as heavy.
Its shrinkage is 11.2% tangential against 7.9% radial, a ratio of 1.4 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 Persimmon on hardness in this database: East Indian Rosewood (2,350 lbf), Santos Mahogany (2,400 lbf), Bubinga (2,410 lbf), Goncalo Alves (2,170 lbf). Similar hardness does not mean similar behaviour - check density and movement before substituting one for another.
Working with it
Workability. Workability is middling; good under hand tools but stubborn to plane and edge-dulling; turns and finishes well
Durability. Perishable, being largely sapwood and prone to insect attack
Typical uses. turned objects, golf club heads, veneer, specialty items.
Related calculators
Sources
MOE, SG (12% MC), Janka and shrinkage from The Wood Database (cites USDA FPL Wood Handbook). Not listed in the FPL/Hoadley dimensional change table, so CT/CR 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.