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American yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis)
Other names: none
Distribution
Eastern USA, principally Northern and Lake States.General description
Yellow birch has a white sapwood and light reddish brown heartwood.
The wood is generally straight grained with a fine uniform texture.Working properties
The wood works fairly easily, glues well with care, takes stain
and polish extremely well, and nails and screws satisfactorily where
pre-boring is advised. It dries rather slowly with little degrade,
but it has moderately high shrinkage, so is susceptible to movement
in performance.
Physical properties
The wood of yellow birch is heavy, hard and strong. It has very
good wood bending properties, with good crushing strength and shock
resistance.Specific Gravity: 0.62 (12% M.C.) Average Weight: 689 kg/m3 (12% M.C.) Average Volumetric Shrinkage: 13.4% (Green to 6% M.C.) Modulus of Elasticity: 13,859 MPa Hardness: 5604 N Durability
Non-resistant to heartwood decay. Liable to attack by common furniture
beetle. Moderately resistant to preservative treatment but sapwood
is permeable.Availability
USA: Reasonable availability, but more limited if selected for
colour, ie red birch (heartwood) or white birch (sapwood).Export: Limited due to low demand, but increasing. Main uses
Furniture, internal joinery and panelling, doors, flooring, kitchen
cabinets, turning and toys. |
| Alder |
| Ash |
| Aspen |
| Basswood |
| Beech |
| Birch |
| Cherry |
| Cottonwood |
| Elm |
| Hackberry |
| Hickory |
| Hard Maple |
| Pecan |
| Red Oak |
| Sap Gum |
| Sassafras |
| Soft Maple |
| American Tulipwood |
| Walnut |
| Willow |
| White Oak |
© 2002 American Hardwood Export Council
1111 Nineteenth Street, NW • Suite 800 • Washington, DC 20036
(202) 463-2720 telephone • (202) 463-2787 fax
