Wood Hardness Scale: Janka Ratings for 75+ Wood Types

The Janka hardness scale rates wood by the force, in pounds-force (lbf), needed to press a steel ball halfway into its surface — balsa scores 100, red oak 1,290, Australian buloke 5,060. Picking wood below your project’s real traffic level means dents within months, not years. This guide ranks 77 species by Janka number and shows what’s actually “hard enough” for flooring, furniture, and outdoor use.

What the Janka Hardness Scale Actually Measures

The Janka hardness test is a wood-industry standard that measures the force required to embed an 11.28mm (0.444-inch) steel ball halfway into a wood sample, expressed in pounds-force (lbf) or newtons (N). Developed by Austrian-born researcher Gabriel Janka in the early 20th century and standardized under ASTM D1037, the test uses heartwood samples at roughly 12% moisture content, free of knots. A higher number means more force was needed to make the dent — so the wood resists denting, scratching, and wear better. For the exact lab procedure behind that number, see how the Janka ball test is actually performed.

The test also gives a rough read on how hard a species is to nail, screw, or saw by hand: the same density that resists a steel ball also resists a drill bit. That’s why oak takes noticeably more effort to hand-saw than pine, and why pre-drilling matters more on hickory than on cedar.

Janka Hardness Chart: 77 Wood Species Ranked

The table below ranks 77 domestic and imported species from softest to hardest, compiled from Janka hardness reference data (Wikipedia’s Janka hardness test entry, Toolstoday’s Janka chart, and Bell Forest Products’ hardwood database). Values can vary 5–15% between sources depending on the specific sample tested, moisture content, and growing region — treat these as reliable comparison points, not lab-certified figures for a specific board.

Species	Janka Hardness (lbf)	Category	Best For
Balsa	100	Softwood	Model making, insulation — far too soft for furniture or floors
Western Red Cedar	350	Softwood	Outdoor siding, closets, fence boards
Eastern White Pine	380	Softwood	Trim, paneling, low-traffic furniture
Basswood	410	Softwood	Hand carving, model work
Cypress	510	Softwood	Outdoor beams, siding, boat building
Sitka Spruce	510	Softwood	Guitar tops, aircraft-grade framing
Yellow Poplar	540	Softwood	Paint-grade furniture, drawer boxes
Red Alder	590	Softwood	Cabinetry, veneer, electric guitar bodies
Spanish Cedar	600	Softwood	Cigar boxes, closet lining, humidor interiors
Douglas Fir	660	Softwood	Structural framing, exposed beams
Black Limba	670	Hardwood	Furniture, decorative veneer
Sycamore	770	Hardwood	Butcher blocks, cabinetry, veneer
Mahogany (Genuine)	800	Hardwood	Fine furniture, boat interiors, musical instruments
American Elm	830	Hardwood	Bent furniture parts, tool handles
Southern Yellow Pine	870	Softwood	Structural framing, porch flooring
Lacewood	891	Hardwood	Decorative veneer, accent furniture
Cherry (Black Cherry)	950	Hardwood	Cabinetry, fine furniture, trim
Soft Maple	950	Hardwood	Furniture, flooring in lighter-traffic rooms
Black Walnut	1,010	Hardwood	Fine furniture, gunstocks, cabinetry
Holly	1,020	Hardwood	Inlay work, marquetry, small turned items
African Mahogany	1,100	Hardwood	Furniture, boat building
Mango	1,100	Hardwood	Furniture, cutting boards
Teak	1,155	Hardwood	Outdoor furniture, boat decking
Koa	1,170	Hardwood	Ukuleles, guitars, decorative furniture
Acacia	1,180	Hardwood	Butcher blocks, flooring, furniture
Redheart	1,200	Hardwood	Turning, inlay, decorative accents
Yellow Birch	1,260	Hardwood	Cabinetry, flooring, plywood veneer
Narra	1,260	Hardwood	Furniture, flooring in Southeast Asia
Red Oak (Northern)	1,290	Hardwood	Flooring, cabinetry, furniture — the US baseline hardwood
Makore	1,294	Hardwood	Furniture, decorative veneer
American Beech	1,300	Hardwood	Flooring, tool handles, butcher blocks
White Ash	1,320	Hardwood	Tool handles, baseball bats, flooring
Shedua	1,330	Hardwood	Furniture, flooring, turned items
Ebiara	1,350	Hardwood	Flooring, furniture
White Oak	1,360	Hardwood	Flooring, outdoor furniture, whiskey barrels
Eucalyptus	1,400	Hardwood	Flooring, outdoor decking
Hard Maple (Sugar Maple)	1,450	Hardwood	Bowling alleys, basketball courts, flooring
Sweet Birch	1,470	Hardwood	Flooring, cabinetry, furniture
Sapele	1,500	Hardwood	Furniture, guitar necks, flooring
Canarywood	1,520	Hardwood	Turning, accent furniture
Honey Locust	1,548	Hardwood	Flooring, fence posts, furniture
Afrormosia	1,560	Hardwood	Outdoor furniture, boat decking (teak substitute)
Merbau	1,712	Hardwood	Decking, flooring
Black & White Ebony	1,780	Exotic hardwood	Musical instrument fittings, inlay
Afzelia	1,810	Exotic hardwood	Flooring, outdoor furniture
Hickory / Pecan	1,820	Hardwood	Tool handles, flooring, drumsticks — hardest common US hardwood
Zebrawood	1,830	Exotic hardwood	Decorative furniture, veneer
Yellowheart	1,878	Exotic hardwood	Turning, inlay, accent furniture
Wenge	1,930	Exotic hardwood	Flooring, furniture, guitar fretboards
Bolivian Rosewood	1,960	Exotic hardwood	Furniture, musical instruments
Padauk	1,970	Exotic hardwood	Turning, inlay, accent furniture
Ziricote	1,970	Exotic hardwood	Guitar bodies, turning, knife handles
Bocote	2,010	Exotic hardwood	Turning, knife handles, gunstocks
Sucupira	2,140	Exotic hardwood	Flooring, outdoor furniture
Leopardwood	2,150	Exotic hardwood	Furniture accents, turning
Goncalo Alves	2,160	Exotic hardwood	Furniture, flooring, turning
Chechen	2,200	Exotic hardwood	Flooring, furniture
Honduras Rosewood	2,200	Exotic hardwood	Musical instruments, fine furniture
Santos Mahogany	2,400	Exotic hardwood	Flooring — a popular hard alternative to genuine mahogany
Bubinga	2,410	Exotic hardwood	Furniture, guitar bodies, turning
East Indian Rosewood	2,440	Exotic hardwood	Furniture, musical instruments
Purpleheart	2,520	Exotic hardwood	Flooring, furniture accents, turning
Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry)	2,690	Exotic hardwood	Flooring — a very hard, dent-resistant floor choice
Granadillo	2,700	Exotic hardwood	Flooring, turning, knife handles
Madagascar Rosewood	2,720	Exotic hardwood	Fine furniture, musical instruments
Osage Orange	2,760	Exotic hardwood	Tool handles, archery bows, fence posts
Bloodwood	2,900	Exotic hardwood	Turning, inlay, accent furniture
Cocobolo	2,960	Exotic hardwood	Knife handles, turning, small luxury items
Gaboon Ebony	3,080	Exotic hardwood	Musical instrument fittings, fine inlay
Macassar Ebony	3,220	Exotic hardwood	Fine furniture, musical instruments
Desert Ironwood	3,250	Exotic hardwood	Knife handles, small turned items
Cumaru	3,330	Exotic hardwood	Decking — a common Ipe alternative
African Blackwood	3,670	Exotic hardwood	Woodwind instruments, fine inlay
Ipe (Brazilian Walnut)	3,680	Exotic hardwood	Decking, outdoor structures — extreme weather resistance
Snakewood	3,800	Exotic hardwood	Turning, exotic small items — among the hardest woods sold commercially
Lignum Vitae	4,380	Exotic hardwood	Ship propeller-shaft bearings, mallets — historically the hardest wood in trade
Australian Buloke	5,060	Exotic hardwood	Not commercially milled — the hardest wood ever recorded

How to Read Your Project’s Janka Number

A raw lbf number only matters relative to what the wood has to survive. Here’s the practical threshold for each common use:

Flooring

Residential flooring generally needs at least 1,000–1,200 lbf — red oak (1,290 lbf) or hickory handle normal foot traffic without trouble. Homes with large dogs, kids, or heavy furniture that gets rearranged do better above 1,300 lbf; that’s where hickory (1,820 lbf) and imported species like Brazilian cherry earn their premium price.

Furniture

Tabletops and chair frames that see daily use do well anywhere from 900–1,500 lbf — walnut (1,010 lbf), cherry (950 lbf), and maple (1,450 lbf) are the standard picks. Purely decorative pieces (display cabinets, picture frames) can go softer since they don’t take impact.

Outdoor Furniture and Decking

Outdoors, rot and UV resistance matter as much as hardness. Cedar (350 lbf) is soft but naturally rot-resistant, which is why it dominates fencing and siding despite a low Janka number. For decking that takes foot traffic and furniture legs, Ipe (3,680 lbf) and cumaru (3,330 lbf) are the two most common high-hardness choices — both are also naturally rot-resistant, which is the real reason they’re sold for decks rather than the Janka number alone.

Turning, Carving, and Hand Tools

Lower numbers aren’t a downside here — basswood (410 lbf) and butternut are prized specifically because they carve cleanly with hand tools. Save the 2,000+ lbf exotics (cocobolo, ebony, bloodwood) for small turned items like knife handles and pens, where their hardness shows up as a fine, glass-smooth finish rather than a fight with your gouge.

Common Mistakes People Make With the Janka Scale

Higher Janka isn’t automatically “better.” A 3,000+ lbf exotic is overkill (and a pain to nail or plane by hand) for a picture frame that will never take an impact. Match the number to the actual traffic the piece will see.

Janka hardness isn’t the same as strength. It measures dent resistance, not how much weight a beam can bear or how well the wood resists bending (that’s modulus of rupture, a separate test). A structural species like Douglas fir has a modest 660 lbf Janka rating but excellent bending strength — that’s exactly why it frames houses instead of hardwood.

Numbers shift between sources. Expect 5–15% variance on the same species depending on which lab tested it, the moisture content of the sample, and whether the wood was tested on the face grain or end grain. Treat any single lbf figure as a comparison point, not a lab certificate for the specific board in front of you.

📊 The gap between Southern Yellow Pine (870 lbf) and Red Oak (1,290 lbf) is only 420 lbf on paper — but it’s the practical difference between a floor that dents under a dropped cast-iron pan and one that doesn’t. Source: Janka hardness reference data (Toolstoday, Wikipedia).

“In the shop, the jump from red oak (1,290 lbf) to hard maple (1,450 lbf) is more noticeable at the tool than the number on paper suggests — chisels and hand planes need re-sharpening measurably sooner working maple all day.”

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Janka hardness scale for wood species?

The Janka hardness scale measures the force, in pounds-force (lbf), needed to embed a steel ball halfway into a wood sample. Higher ratings mean the wood resists denting and wear better, which is why it’s the standard reference for choosing flooring and furniture wood.

What type of wood is the hardest in the world?

Australian buloke is the hardest wood ever recorded on the Janka scale, at roughly 5,060 lbf — about four times harder than red oak. It isn’t commercially milled for furniture or flooring, so the hardest wood you can actually buy is typically Lignum Vitae (4,380 lbf) or snakewood (3,800 lbf).

What is a good Janka hardness rating for hardwood flooring?

For most homes, 1,000–1,200 lbf is enough — red oak (1,290 lbf) is the industry baseline. Homes with large dogs, heavy foot traffic, or furniture that moves often do better above 1,300 lbf, which is where hickory (1,820 lbf) and imported species like Brazilian cherry come in.

Does Janka hardness matter for outdoor furniture and decking?

It matters less than rot and UV resistance. Cedar (350 lbf) is soft but naturally decay-resistant, which is why it’s a standard outdoor choice despite a low Janka number. High-hardness deck species like Ipe (3,680 lbf) are chosen mainly for their rot resistance and longevity — the extreme hardness is a side benefit, not the main reason.

Is a higher Janka rating always better?

No. A higher rating means better dent resistance, but it also means the wood is harder to saw, nail, and plane by hand, and it’s usually more expensive. For carving, turning small items, or trim that won’t take impact, a softer wood like basswood or pine is the better practical choice.

Conclusion

The Janka number only matters relative to the job: match it to real foot traffic for flooring, real impact risk for furniture, and rot resistance (not just hardness) for anything outdoors. For a deeper look at how these species compare beyond hardness — grain, color, and workability — see our complete types of wood guide.