Species data
Sassafras
Sassafras albidum - a hardwood from eastern United States. Also sold as common sassafras.
Properties at a glance
| Janka hardness | 630 lbf |
| Stiffness (MOE) | 1,120,000 psi |
| Specific gravity | 0.50 |
| Density | 31.2 lb/ft3 (500 kg/m3) |
| Weight per board foot | 2.60 lb |
| Shrinkage, green to oven-dry | 6.2% tangential / 4% 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 Sassafras compares
Measured against the 113 solid woods in this database: it is harder than 29% of them, heavier than 26%, and stiffer than 6%.
What that means in the shop
A 4/4 board 8 inches wide and 8 feet long is 5.33 board feet, so in Sassafras it weighs about 13.9 lb. A stack of ten is 139 lb - worth knowing before you load a rack or a car.
Against red oak, the trade's usual yardstick at 1,220 lbf, Sassafras is about 52% as hard and 71% as heavy.
Its shrinkage is 6.2% tangential against 4% 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 Sassafras on hardness in this database: Douglas-Fir (620 lbf), Spanish Cedar (600 lbf), Port Orford Cedar (590 lbf), Red Alder (590 lbf). Similar hardness does not mean similar behaviour - check density and movement before substituting one for another.
Working with it
Workability. Easy under hand and power tools, dimensionally stable when dry; glues, stains and finishes well
Durability. Rates durable to very durable
Typical uses. furniture, fence posts, boatbuilding, utility lumber.
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. Sassafras is not listed in the FPL/Hoadley dimensional change coefficient table (Popular Woodworking reproduction), 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.