Wood Species

Name	Wood	Janka Rating
Boreal		1023

Boreal
Populus balsamifera

Also known as: Cottonwood, Balm, Hackmatack, Poplar, Tacamahac

Origin: Northern United States and Canada

Appearance:

The sapwood of boreal is white to faint yellow, while the heartwood is grayish-white to light brown in color. The species has a figured, straight grain and is uniform and somewhat coarse in texture. The wood's figure becomes more pronounced with staining.

Resistance, Durability:

Boreal is not overly durable in its exposed form with regards to decay. It is not the best choice in such high risk situations. The wood is reported to have no odor. Boreal can be somewhat difficult to dry properly but does so fairly quickly.

Janka Hardness: 1023

As a flooring choice, boreal is somewhat softer of a wood. It is slightly harder than black walnut, is roughly eighty percent as hard as red oak, about seventy-five percent as hard as white oak, and about seventy-nine percent as hard as ash.

Workability:

Boreal cuts rather easily and cleanly. Boreal glues easily and nails without splitting being reported but this species is generally difficult to sand.

Main Uses:

Boreal's uses include flooring, furniture, veneer, and violins.

What is a Janka Rating?

"It is one of the best measures of the ability of a wood species to withstand denting and wear. It is also a good indicator of how hard a species is to saw or nail.

The hardness of wood usually varies with the direction of the wood grain.

A common use of Janka hardness ratings is to determine whether a species is suitable for use as flooring."

Colored Bamboo

Some species have different janka ratings depending on how they have been treated.

Bamboo is one example of this. If left with a natural finish, Bamboo falls at 1380 on the hardness scale. If you carbonize it to get a darker color, the rank falls to 1180.