Species data
Yellow Birch
Betula alleghaniensis - a hardwood from northeastern North America.
Properties at a glance
| Janka hardness | 1,260 lbf |
| Stiffness (MOE) | 2,010,000 psi |
| Specific gravity | 0.69 |
| Density | 43.1 lb/ft3 (690 kg/m3) |
| Weight per board foot | 3.59 lb |
| Shrinkage, green to oven-dry | 9.5% tangential / 7.3% radial |
| Movement coefficient (CT / CR) | 0.00338 / 0.00256 |
| Indicative price | $4.50 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 Yellow Birch compares
Measured against the 113 solid woods in this database: it is harder than 58% of them, heavier than 58%, and stiffer than 78%.
What that means in the shop
A 4/4 board 8 inches wide and 8 feet long is 5.33 board feet, so in Yellow Birch it weighs about 19.1 lb. A stack of ten is 191 lb - worth knowing before you load a rack or a car.
Against red oak, the trade's usual yardstick at 1,220 lbf, Yellow Birch is about 1.0x as hard and 99% as heavy.
Its shrinkage is 9.5% tangential against 7.3% radial, a ratio of 1.3 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 Yellow Birch on hardness in this database: American Beech (1,300 lbf), Red Oak (1,220 lbf), Makore (1,200 lbf), White Ash (1,320 lbf). Similar hardness does not mean similar behaviour - check density and movement before substituting one for another.
Working with it
Workability. Mostly easy, though wild grain may tear when machined
Durability. Perishable, quick to rot once exposed
Typical uses. plywood, interior trim, boxes, turned objects, specialty items.
Related calculators
Sources
- The Wood Database - Yellow Birch
- 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 FPL/Hoadley table where listed. Uses, region, durability, 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.