Hickory Lumber

Hickory Carya spp

Westward trekking pioneers made hickory a prerequisite for their wagon wheels. Hickory is the hardest, heaviest and strongest American wood in the common use. The sapwood of hickory is white, tinged with inconspicuous fine brown lines while the heartwood is pale to reddish brown. Both are coarse-textured and the grain is fine, usually straight but can be wavy or irregular. Hickory can be difficult to machine and glue, and hard to work with hand tools, so care is needed. It hold nails and screws well, but there is a tendency to split so pre-boring is advised. The wood can be sanded to a good finish. The grain pattern welcomes a full range of medium-to-dark finishes and bleaching treatments. It can be difficult to dry and has high shrinkage. The density and strength of the hickories will vary according to the rate of growth, with the true hickories generally showing higher values than the pecan hickories. The wood is well-known for its very good strength and shock resistance and it also has excellent steam-bending properties. Extremely tough and resilient, even texture, quite hard and only moderately heavy.

Typical Uses: Hickory’s properties make it ideal for tool handles, furniture, cabinetry, flooring, paneling, wooden ladders, dowels and sporting goods.

Source Region: North America

All our Hickory lumber is sold by the board foot, with a 10 board foot minimum per item. The price noted below for each Hickory item, with the exception of packages, is the price of a single board foot. Please make sure that you enter the total number of board feet needed when you are prompted to enter a quantity for the item.