Species data
Sugar Pine
Pinus lambertiana - a softwood from pacific coast mountains of the United States. Also sold as sugar pine.
Properties at a glance
| Janka hardness | 380 lbf |
| Stiffness (MOE) | 1,190,000 psi |
| Specific gravity | 0.40 |
| Density | 25.0 lb/ft3 (400 kg/m3) |
| Weight per board foot | 2.08 lb |
| Shrinkage, green to oven-dry | 5.6% tangential / 2.9% radial |
| Movement coefficient (CT / CR) | 0.00194 / 0.00099 |
| 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 Sugar Pine compares
Measured against the 113 solid woods in this database: it is harder than 4% of them, heavier than 5%, and stiffer than 12%. 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 Sugar Pine it weighs about 11.1 lb. A stack of ten is 111 lb - worth knowing before you load a rack or a car.
Against red oak, the trade's usual yardstick at 1,220 lbf, Sugar Pine is about 31% as hard and 57% as heavy.
Its shrinkage is 5.6% tangential against 2.9% 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 Sugar Pine on hardness in this database: Eastern White Pine (380 lbf), Engelmann Spruce (390 lbf), Balsam Fir (400 lbf), American Basswood (410 lbf). Similar hardness does not mean similar behaviour - check density and movement before substituting one for another.
Working with it
Workability. Easy under both hand and power tools; glues and finishes well
Durability. Heartwood carries only moderate to low decay resistance
Typical uses. crates, boxes, interior millwork, construction lumber, piano keys.
Related calculators
Sources
- The Wood Database - Sugar Pine
- 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 "Pine, sugar" 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.