American basswood (Tilia americana) 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 basswood |
|---|---|
| Janka side hardness, 12% moisture | 410 lbf (1,824 N) |
| Janka side hardness, green | 250 lbf |
| Hardness rank | harder than 13 of the 168 woods with a 12% hardness value in our database |
| Density at 12% moisture | 25.9 lb/ft³ (414 kg/m³) |
| Weight per board foot (12%) | 2.16 lb |
| Specific gravity (ovendry weight, green volume) | 0.32 |
| Specific gravity at 12% moisture | 0.37 |
| Bending strength (modulus of rupture), 12% | 8,700 psi |
| Stiffness (modulus of elasticity), 12% | 1.46 million psi |
| Crushing strength (compression parallel to grain), 12% | 4,730 psi |
| Shrinkage green to ovendry: radial / tangential / volumetric | 6.6% / 9.3% / 15.8% |
| Tangential / radial shrinkage ratio | 1.41 |
| Dimensional change per 1% moisture (radial / tangential) | 0.0023 / 0.0033 |
| Impact bending (drop height to failure), 12% | 16 in. |
| Heartwood decay resistance | slightly or nonresistant |
What it is
Basswood lumber is mainly American basswood (Tilia americana), the most important native species, together with white basswood (T. heterophylla); no attempt is made to tell the two apart once they are sawn. In the trade, “white basswood” means the white wood, or sapwood, of either species rather than a particular tree. Basswood grows in the eastern half of North America from the Canadian provinces southward, and most of the lumber comes from the Lake, Middle Atlantic and Central States.
The heartwood is pale yellowish brown with occasional darker streaks. The sapwood is wide, creamy white or pale brown, and merges gradually into the heartwood. Dry basswood has no odor or taste.
Working properties
Basswood is soft and light in weight, with a fine, even texture and straight grain, and it is easy to work with tools; the Handbook notes that it is a favorite of wood carvers. Its shrinkage in width and thickness during drying is rated high (9.3% tangentially from green to ovendry), but basswood seldom warps in use. Table 14-1 of the Handbook puts its heartwood in the slightly or nonresistant decay class, so it is not a wood for exposed outdoor work.
Weight and density
At 12% moisture content american basswood weighs about 25.9 lb per cubic foot, so one board foot (144 cubic inches) weighs about 2.16 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 5.9 lb; an 8 ft piece 1-1/2 × 3-1/2 in. (a 2×4 size) weighs about 7.6 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 basswood they are 0.0033 across a flatsawn face (tangential) and 0.0023 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 × 0.0033 × 6 = 0.144 in. (about 5/32 in.). The same board quartersawn moves 0.1 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 basswood | 410 | 25.9 | 8,700 | 1.46 | 9.3 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Yellow-poplar | 540 | 29.4 | 10,100 | 1.58 | 8.2 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Eastern white pine | 380 | 24.5 | 8,600 | 1.24 | 6.1 | moderately resistant (old growth only); otherwise slightly or nonresistant |
| Quaking aspen | 350 | 26.6 | 8,400 | 1.18 | 6.7 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Red alder | 590 | 28.7 | 9,800 | 1.38 | 7.3 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Eastern cottonwood | 430 | 28.0 | 8,500 | 1.37 | 9.2 | slightly or nonresistant |
Uses
Venetian blinds, sashes and door frames, moulding, apiary (beekeeping) supplies, wooden ware and boxes. Some basswood is cut for veneer, cooperage, excelsior and pulpwood, and carvers favor it.
Frequently asked questions
How hard is basswood?
American basswood averages 410 lbf (1,824 N) on the Janka side-hardness test at 12% moisture content and 250 lbf green. Of the domestic hardwoods in the Wood Handbook tables, only quaking aspen and black cottonwood are softer.
Why is basswood good for carving?
It is soft and light, with a fine, even texture and straight grain, and the Handbook describes it as easy to work with tools and a favorite of wood carvers.
Is basswood softer than pine?
It is much softer than the southern pines: loblolly pine averages 690 lbf against 410 lbf for basswood. The soft pines such as eastern white pine are about as soft as basswood (see the comparison table).
How much does basswood weigh?
About 25.9 lb per cubic foot at 12% moisture content, or 2.16 lb per board foot.
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: 24 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.