American beech (Fagus grandifolia) in numbers: hardness, weight, strength, shrinkage, movement and decay resistance, taken from the tables of the USDA Forest Products Laboratory’s Wood Handbook, followed by what the wood is like to work and what it is used for. The values are averages from small, clear, straight-grained test specimens; real boards with knots, sloping grain or a different moisture content will differ.
| Property | American beech |
|---|---|
| Janka side hardness, 12% moisture | 1,300 lbf (5,783 N) |
| Janka side hardness, green | 850 lbf |
| Hardness rank | harder than 113 of the 168 woods with a 12% hardness value in our database |
| Density at 12% moisture | 44.7 lb/ft³ (717 kg/m³) |
| Weight per board foot (12%) | 3.73 lb |
| Specific gravity (ovendry weight, green volume) | 0.56 |
| Specific gravity at 12% moisture | 0.64 |
| Bending strength (modulus of rupture), 12% | 14,900 psi |
| Stiffness (modulus of elasticity), 12% | 1.72 million psi |
| Crushing strength (compression parallel to grain), 12% | 7,300 psi |
| Shrinkage green to ovendry: radial / tangential / volumetric | 5.5% / 11.9% / 17.2% |
| Tangential / radial shrinkage ratio | 2.16 |
| Dimensional change per 1% moisture (radial / tangential) | 0.0019 / 0.00431 |
| Impact bending (drop height to failure), 12% | 41 in. |
| Heartwood decay resistance | slightly or nonresistant |
What it is
American beech (Fagus grandifolia) is the only beech native to the United States. It grows in the eastern third of the country and the neighbouring Canadian provinces, and most beech lumber comes from the Central and Middle Atlantic States. Color varies from nearly white sapwood to reddish-brown heartwood, sometimes with no clear line between them; the sapwood can be 3 to 5 in. wide.
Working properties
Beech has little figure and a close, uniform texture, with no characteristic taste or odor. It is heavy, hard and strong, with high shock resistance, and is highly suitable for steam bending. It shrinks a great deal (11.9% tangentially from green to oven-dry, one of the highest values among common US hardwoods) and needs careful drying; in service, a flatsawn board changes width by about 0.431% for each 1% change in moisture content. It machines smoothly, turns very well and wears well.
Weight and density
At 12% moisture content american beech weighs about 44.7 lb per cubic foot, so one board foot (144 cubic inches) weighs about 3.73 lb. An 8 ft board of actual size 3/4 × 5-1/2 in. (a 1×6) holds 0.229 cubic feet and weighs about 10.2 lb; an 8 ft piece 1-1/2 × 3-1/2 in. (a 2×4 size) weighs about 13.0 lb. Green wood is much heavier because of the water it holds.
Density here is ovendry weight plus 12% water, divided by volume at 12% moisture content (Wood Handbook Eq. 4-12: density = specific gravity at 12% × 62.43 lb/ft³ × 1.12).
Wood movement
The Wood Handbook gives dimensional change coefficients for each species: the fraction of its width a board gains or loses for every 1% change in moisture content, between about 6% and 14%. For american beech they are 0.00431 across a flatsawn face (tangential) and 0.0019 across a quartersawn face (radial).
Worked example: a flatsawn board 7-1/4 in. wide (a nominal 1×8) that goes from 6% moisture content in a heated winter house to 12% in a humid summer changes width by 7.25 × 0.00431 × 6 = 0.187 in. (about 3/16 in.). The same board quartersawn moves 0.083 in. (about 3/32 in.). Allow for this in panels, tabletops and floors; the wood movement calculator works it out for any size and moisture range.
How it compares
| Species | Janka (lbf) | Density (lb/ft³) | Bending (psi) | Stiffness (Mpsi) | Tangential shrink (%) | Decay resistance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American beech | 1,300 | 44.7 | 14,900 | 1.72 | 11.9 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Sugar maple | 1,450 | 44.1 | 15,800 | 1.83 | 9.9 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Yellow birch | 1,260 | 43.4 | 16,600 | 2.01 | 9.5 | slightly or nonresistant |
| White oak | 1,360 | 47.5 | 15,200 | 1.78 | 10.5 | resistant |
| Black cherry | 950 | 35.0 | 12,300 | 1.49 | 7.1 | moderately resistant |
| White ash | 1,320 | 42.0 | 15,000 | 1.74 | 7.8 | slightly or nonresistant |
Uses
Flooring, furniture, brush blocks, handles, veneer, woodenware, containers and cooperage; railway ties when treated with preservative.
Frequently asked questions
How hard is beech?
American beech averages 1,300 lbf (5,783 N) on the Janka test at 12% moisture content, close to white oak (1,360 lbf) and a little softer than hard maple (1,450 lbf).
Is beech stable?
Not very. Its tangential shrinkage of 11.9% from green to oven-dry is among the highest of common US hardwoods, so allow for movement in wide panels and tops.
Is beech good for bending?
Yes. The Wood Handbook describes beech as highly suitable for steam bending.
Sources
- USDA Forest Products Laboratory. Wood Handbook: Wood as an Engineering Material. General Technical Report FPL-GTR-190, 2010. Chapter 2 (species descriptions), Chapter 4 (Tables 4-3, 4-4 shrinkage; Eq. 4-7, 4-9, 4-12 density), Chapter 5 (Tables 5-3b, 5-5b strength and hardness), Chapter 13 (Table 13-5 dimensional change coefficients), Chapter 14 (Table 14-1 decay resistance)
- USDA Forest Products Laboratory. Wood Handbook, 2021 edition (FPL-GTR-282)
Last reviewed: 22 October 2026. Numbers are generated from our parsed copy of the Handbook tables, so every page uses the same data. Values marked * are estimates computed with the Handbook’s own equations. Spotted an error? Please let us know.