Species data
Redwood
Sequoia sempervirens - a softwood from coastal northwestern United States (southwestern Oregon to central California). Also sold as coast redwood, california redwood.
Properties at a glance
| Janka hardness | 450 lbf |
| Stiffness (MOE) | 1,220,000 psi |
| Specific gravity | 0.42 |
| Density | 26.2 lb/ft3 (420 kg/m3) |
| Weight per board foot | 2.18 lb |
| Shrinkage, green to oven-dry | 4.7% tangential / 2.4% radial |
| Movement coefficient (CT / CR) | 0.00229 / 0.00101 |
| Indicative price | $8.00 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 Redwood compares
Measured against the 113 solid woods in this database: it is harder than 11% of them, heavier than 12%, and stiffer than 15%. 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 Redwood it weighs about 11.6 lb. A stack of ten is 116 lb - worth knowing before you load a rack or a car.
Against red oak, the trade's usual yardstick at 1,220 lbf, Redwood is about 37% as hard and 60% as heavy.
Its shrinkage is 4.7% tangential against 2.4% radial, a ratio of 2.0 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 Redwood on hardness in this database: Ponderosa Pine (460 lbf), Black Willow (430 lbf), Eastern Cottonwood (430 lbf), Incense Cedar (470 lbf). Similar hardness does not mean similar behaviour - check density and movement before substituting one for another.
Working with it
Workability. Usually easy to work, though figured or irregular grain may tear in the planer
Durability. Rates moderately to very durable, with old-growth outlasting second-growth
Typical uses. decking, exterior furniture, posts and beams, construction lumber, veneer, trim.
Related calculators
Sources
- The Wood Database - Redwood
- Dimensional change coefficient table (Hoadley / FPL Wood Handbook), reproduced by Popular Woodworking
MOE, SG (12% MC), Janka and shrinkage from The Wood Database (cites USDA FPL Wood Handbook). CT/CR from the "Redwood" row of the FPL/Hoadley table. 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.