Species data
Western Redcedar
Thuja plicata - a softwood from pacific Northwest of the United States and Canada. Also sold as giant arborvitae, western red cedar.
Properties at a glance
| Janka hardness | 350 lbf |
| Stiffness (MOE) | 1,110,000 psi |
| Specific gravity | 0.37 |
| Density | 23.1 lb/ft3 (370 kg/m3) |
| Weight per board foot | 1.92 lb |
| Shrinkage, green to oven-dry | 5% tangential / 2.4% 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 Western Redcedar compares
Measured against the 113 solid woods in this database: it is harder than 2% of them, heavier than 1%, and stiffer than 5%. 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 Western Redcedar it weighs about 10.3 lb. A stack of ten is 103 lb - worth knowing before you load a rack or a car.
Against red oak, the trade's usual yardstick at 1,220 lbf, Western Redcedar is about 29% as hard and 53% as heavy.
Its shrinkage is 5% tangential against 2.4% radial, a ratio of 2.1 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 Western Redcedar on hardness in this database: Quaking Aspen (350 lbf), Eastern White Pine (380 lbf), Sugar Pine (380 lbf), Engelmann Spruce (390 lbf). Similar hardness does not mean similar behaviour - check density and movement before substituting one for another.
Working with it
Workability. Easy by hand or machine, yet it dents, scratches and sands unevenly
Durability. Durable to very durable in resisting decay, with variable insect resistance
Typical uses. shingles, exterior siding, boatbuilding, boxes, musical instruments.
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 (only eastern redcedar appears), 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.