Heaviest Wood?

[Dancy]

Did a search, but didn't find anything.

Which wood is heaviest (on average), Walnut, Maple or Cherry?

Thanks,

James

[G. Elsenbeck]

Per the Janka hardness chart, Sugar Maple, walnut, cherry.  Just as a side comparison, white oak comes in second to sugar maple. 

Refer to:  http://www.sizes.com/units/janka.htm

Gary

[Gary Collins]

in a book heating your home with wood sugar maple at 12 percent moisture a cubic foot is 39 lbs.black cherry is 31 lbs black walnut is 34.5
gary

[billd]

http://www.websterchain.com/graphicsreduced/approx.htm

Here's a chart of wood weights. It's not saying the heaviest wood is the hardest, but weight is density so the heavier wood shoud be the harder wood. Notice it says approximate. Wood can vary greatly.

Bill

[Don Getz]

Brian......that's a difficult question, and does not have a simple answer.   I have picked up many pieces of maple and there
can be huge difference in weight among them, same goes for walnut, or cherry.   The very dense pieces of any wood are
going to be heavier.  Usually sugar maple is harder, and more dense than red maple, but even among pieces of sugar
maple you will find light and heavy wood.   Right now I'm finishing up a Beck rifle that is made from red maple, very light
and soft, and a real bitch to work with...hate it.    So Brian, the answer to your question is...........?           Don

[t.caster]

Don, is that a Beck Barn Gun? They are a good use for softer maple woods.

[Colonial Riflesmith]

The heavyest wood that I have used to build a rifle was Ash. Didn't weigh it, but the rifle was definatly heavyer.

[caliber45]

Guys -- Nobody mentioned it, and it was not among the original post's choices, but if you're looking for HEAVY, check out desert-grown ironwood. It is sort of a desert ebony, deep red/brown in color and DENSE as all-git-out. Gorgeous stuff. Sadly, it tends to check and crack in smaller trees, and larger ones are hard to find (except in Mexico). But if you want heavy, gorgeous, almost translucent wood, check it out. The stuff is so dense it doesn't float. -- paulallen, tucson

[Jerry V Lape]

And I am told the sanding dust from Desert Ironwood is a serious carcinogen so if you build with it take precautions. 

[Acer Saccharum]

From 'Machinery's Handbook'

Weight of seasoned wood per cord, assuming 70 cubic ft solid wood.

White oak 3500 lbs
Red Oak 3300
poplar 2200
Maple 3100
Elm 2900
beech 3300
chestnut 2600
White Pine 2200

[Acer Saccharum]

Same source, but per cubic ft.
Hickory, 51 lbs/cu ft
Sugar maple 44
Silver maple 33
red maple 38
White oak 47
White ash 41
Elm 35
Beech 45
Birch 44

[mr. no gold]

If you are looking for a really dense, heavy wood that is not in the usual line of woods that we always think of, get South West Desert Iron Wood. It has all of the properties that a chunk of iron has and is well named. It isn't possible to cut an iron wood tree with just one chain blade on a chain saw; you have to change them along the way. Forget an axe.
It is extremely rare and almost doesn't rot. I have seen one piece that had normal wood on one end and was fossilized on the other end. Can't even begin to say how old that was.
It would make good knife scales or grips/stock for a handgun but it would triple the weight of most rifles if they had been stocked with that.
Dick

[rich pierce]

Since we're entertaining ourselves here (the original poster hasn't chimed in to say "uncle" yet, consider persimmon or osage orange or black locust if you must.  The nice thing about osage orange and black locust is that you could bury the gun in wet ground for a few years and dig it out and only have to replace the metal parts.   

[Acer Saccharum]

Black walnut 38

Black locust, 48

[t.caster]

let's not forget Black Cherry 35 #/cf airdry.

[Acer Saccharum]

Duh, I forgot about cherry. 

[Acer Saccharum]

When you get the gun all shaped and finished, take all the parts off, and you will be surprised at how little the wood weighs. Unless the wood is extremely heavy, like rosewood (72 lbs cu ft), probably the choice of wood will not affect the overall weight of the rifle more than a few ounces one way or another.

[Dancy]

Wow, thanks for all the input from everyone. I didn't think it would be a simple question to answer and after reading all this, sounds like it really boils down to the specific pieces of wood you have to select from. The reason I originally posted the question was that I noticed Mr. Glazener offers his nice stocks in Maple, Cherry and Walnut and was curious which would be the heaver.

James