Species data
Tamarack
Larix laricina - a softwood from canada and northeastern United States. Also sold as american larch, eastern larch.
Properties at a glance
| Janka hardness | 590 lbf |
| Stiffness (MOE) | 1,640,000 psi |
| Specific gravity | 0.59 |
| Density | 36.8 lb/ft3 (590 kg/m3) |
| Weight per board foot | 3.07 lb |
| Shrinkage, green to oven-dry | 7.4% tangential / 3.7% radial |
| Indicative price | $4.00 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 Tamarack compares
Measured against the 113 solid woods in this database: it is harder than 27% of them, heavier than 43%, and stiffer than 53%.
What that means in the shop
A 4/4 board 8 inches wide and 8 feet long is 5.33 board feet, so in Tamarack it weighs about 16.4 lb. A stack of ten is 164 lb - worth knowing before you load a rack or a car.
Against red oak, the trade's usual yardstick at 1,220 lbf, Tamarack is about 48% as hard and 84% as heavy.
Its shrinkage is 7.4% tangential against 3.7% 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 sits in that range.
Woods of similar hardness
Closest to Tamarack on hardness in this database: Port Orford Cedar (590 lbf), Red Alder (590 lbf), Alaska Yellow Cedar (580 lbf), Spanish Cedar (600 lbf). Similar hardness does not mean similar behaviour - check density and movement before substituting one for another.
Working with it
Workability. Most operations go well, but high silica dulls edges and uneven ring hardness complicates sanding
Durability. Heartwood carries a moderate durability rating, acceptable outdoors but better paired with preservative treatment
Typical uses. snowshoes, utility poles, posts, rough lumber, boxes and crates, pulpwood.
Related calculators
Sources
MOE (1,640,000 lbf/in2), Janka (590 lbf) and shrinkage (T 7.4%, R 3.7%) from The Wood Database, which cites the USDA FPL Wood Handbook. Specific gravity 0.59 is the 12% MC value (page lists basic 0.49, 12% MC 0.59). No dimensional change coefficient given: Tamarack (Larix laricina) has no exact row in the FPL/Hoadley table reproduced by Popular Woodworking, so CT/CR are omitted. Region, uses, 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.