American sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) 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 sycamore |
|---|---|
| Janka side hardness, 12% moisture | 770 lbf (3,425 N) |
| Janka side hardness, green | 610 lbf |
| Hardness rank | harder than 65 of the 168 woods with a 12% hardness value in our database |
| Density at 12% moisture | 34.3 lb/ft³ (549 kg/m³) |
| Weight per board foot (12%) | 2.86 lb |
| Specific gravity (ovendry weight, green volume) | 0.46 |
| Specific gravity at 12% moisture | 0.49 |
| Bending strength (modulus of rupture), 12% | 10,000 psi |
| Stiffness (modulus of elasticity), 12% | 1.42 million psi |
| Crushing strength (compression parallel to grain), 12% | 5,380 psi |
| Shrinkage green to ovendry: radial / tangential / volumetric | 5.0% / 8.4% / 14.1% |
| Tangential / radial shrinkage ratio | 1.68 |
| Dimensional change per 1% moisture (radial / tangential) | 0.00172 / 0.00296 |
| Impact bending (drop height to failure), 12% | 26 in. |
| Heartwood decay resistance | slightly or nonresistant |
What it is
American sycamore (Platanus occidentalis), sometimes called buttonwood or buttonball-tree, grows from Maine to Nebraska, southward to Texas and eastward to Florida.
The heartwood is reddish brown; the sapwood is light in color and from 2 to 3 in. wide. The wood has a fine texture and interlocked grain.
Working properties
Sycamore is moderately heavy, moderately hard, moderately stiff and moderately strong, and it has good shock resistance. It has high shrinkage in drying: 8.4% tangentially from green to ovendry. In service a flatsawn board changes width by about 0.296% and a quartersawn board by about 0.172% for each 1% change in moisture content.
Weight and density
At 12% moisture content american sycamore weighs about 34.3 lb per cubic foot, so one board foot (144 cubic inches) weighs about 2.86 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 7.9 lb; an 8 ft piece 1-1/2 × 3-1/2 in. (a 2×4 size) weighs about 10.0 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 sycamore they are 0.00296 across a flatsawn face (tangential) and 0.00172 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 × 0.00296 × 6 = 0.129 in. (about 1/8 in.). The same board quartersawn moves 0.075 in. (about 1/16 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 sycamore | 770 | 34.3 | 10,000 | 1.42 | 8.4 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Sweetgum | 850 | 36.4 | 12,500 | 1.64 | 10.2 | slightly or nonresistant |
| American beech | 1,300 | 44.7 | 14,900 | 1.72 | 11.9 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Red maple | 950 | 37.8 | 13,400 | 1.64 | 8.2 | slightly or nonresistant |
| American elm | 830 | 35.0 | 11,800 | 1.34 | 9.5 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Yellow-poplar | 540 | 29.4 | 10,100 | 1.58 | 8.2 | slightly or nonresistant |
Uses
Lumber, veneer, railroad crossties, slack cooperage, fence posts and fuel. The lumber goes into furniture, boxes (particularly small food containers), pallets, flooring, handles and butcher blocks; the veneer into fruit and vegetable baskets and some decorative panels and door skins.
Frequently asked questions
How hard is sycamore?
American sycamore averages 770 lbf (3,425 N) on the Janka test at 12% moisture content and 610 lbf green, softer than red maple (950 lbf) and black cherry (950 lbf).
Is sycamore good for butcher blocks?
The Wood Handbook lists butcher blocks and small food containers among its uses. It is softer than hard maple (1,450 lbf), so it dents more easily.
Does sycamore shrink a lot?
Yes. The Handbook rates its shrinkage in drying as high: 8.4% tangentially from green to ovendry.
Can sycamore be used outdoors?
Not untreated. Sycamore heartwood is in the slightly or nonresistant decay class, so it needs preservative treatment or a protected location outdoors.
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.