Wood Densities

[Chuck Young]

here is a table of wood densities compiled from several sources.

Solid Density   (10³ kg/m³) (lb/ft³)^*)  

Balsa 0.09 6 6

Balsa 0.16 10 10

Balsa 0.22 14 14

Paulownia 0.29 18 18

Balsa 0.3 19 19

Bamboo 0.3 - 0.4 19 - 25 19

Basswood 0.3 - 0.6 20 - 37 20

Pine, white 0.35 - 0.5 22 - 31 22

Poplar 0.35 - 0.5 22 - 31 22

Cedar, western red 0.38 23 23

Pine, yellow 0.42 23 - 37 23

Butternut 0.38 24 24

Obeche 0.39 24 24

Sycamore 0.4 - 0.6 24 - 37 24

Willow 0.4 - 0.6 24 - 37 24

Cottonwood 0.41 25 25

Spruce 0.4 - 0.7 25 - 44 25

Alder 0.4 - 0.7 26 - 42 26

Aspen 0.42 26 26

Gaboon 0.43 27 27

Spruce, Norway 0.43 27 27

Redwood, American 0.45 28 28

Spruce, Canadian 0.45 28 28

Spruce, Sitka 0.45 28 28

Spruce, western white 0.45 28 28

Chestnut, sweet 0.56 30 30

Pine, radiata 0.48 30 30

Walnut, Claro 0.49 30 30

Whitewood, European 0.47 30 30

Hemlock, western 0.5 31 31

Larch 0.5 - 0.55 31 - 35 31

Mahogany, African 0.5 - 0.85 31 - 53 31

Agba 0.51 32 32

Beech 0.7 - 0.9 32 - 56 32

Cypress 0.51 32 32

Pine, Corsican 0.51 32 32

Pine, Scots 0.51 32 32

Redwood, European 0.51 32 32

Ash, black 0.54 33 33

Douglas Fir 0.53 33 33

Oregon Pine 0.53 33 33

Elm, English 0.55 - 0.6 34 - 37 34

Elm, American 0.57 35 35

Elm, Dutch 0.56 35 35

Gum, Red 0.54 35 35

Juniper 0.55 35 35

Lime, European 0.56 35 35

Magnolia 0.57 35 35

Parana Pine 0.56 35 35

Walnut, European 0.57 35 35

Cedar of Lebanon 0.58 36 36

Gum, Black 0.59 36 36

Philippine Red Luan 0.59 36 36

Hickory 0.83 37 - 58 37

Oak 0.6 - 0.9 37 - 56 37

Hackberry 0.62 38 38

Maple 0.6 - 0.75 39 - 47 38

Pear 0.6 - 0.7 38 - 45 38

Walnut, Amer Black 0.63 38 38

Tanguile 0.64 39 39

Mahogany, Cuban 0.66 40 40

Myrtle 0.66 40 40

Plane, European 0.64 40 40

Sapele 0.64 40 40

Walnut 0.65 - 0.7 40 - 43 40

Apple 0.65 - 0.85 41 - 52 41 

Ash, white 0.65 - 0.85 40 - 53 41

Iroko 0.66 41 41

Locust 0.65 - 0.7 42 - 44 41

Mahogany, Honduras 0.65 41 41

Plum 0.65 - 0.8 41 - 49 41

Ramin 0.67 41 41

Teak, Indian 0.65 - 0.9 41 - 55 41

Utile 0.66 41 41

Birch, British 0.67 42 42

Birch, European 0.67 42 42

Yew 0.67 42 42

Cherry, European 0.63 43- 56 43

Elm, Wych 0.69 43 43

Afrormosia 0.71 44 44 Ash,

European 0.71 44 44

Meranti, dark red 0.71 44 44

Madrone 0.74 45 45

Oak, American Red 0.74 45 45

Oak, English Brown 0.74 45 45

Teak, Burma 0.74 45 45 Keruing 0.74 46 46

Dogwood 0.75 47 47 Holly 0.75 47 47

Oak, American White 0.77 47 47

Pecan 0.77 47 47

Zebrawood 0.79 48 48

Elm, Rock 0.82 50 50

Gum, Blue 0.82 50 50

Rosewood, Bolivian 0.82 50 50

Pine, pitch 0.67 52 - 53 52

Mahogany, Spanish 0.85 53 53

Persimmon 0.9 55 55

Rosewood, East Indian 0.9 55 55

Logwood 0.9 57 57

Box 0.95 - 1.2 59 - 72 59

Satinwood 0.95 59 59

Teak, African 0.98 61 61

Water gum 1 62 62

Greenheart 1.04 64 64

Ebony 1.1 - 1.3 69 - 83 69

Lignum Vitae 1.17 - 1.33 73 - 83 73

Edited October 1, 2016 by Chuck Young

[SW Lures]

This is a great job Chuck and time consuming research and editing.

What I'm writing here is for first time lure makers or ones just starting out. You will hear all different sides of what wood to use. I have trouble where I'm from in buying balsa and basswood without paying through the nose, specialty suppliers.

I had to pay top dollar for certain woods (balsa & basswood). I prefer looking and feeling the wood rather then buying it on line. I'm working with native woods and these woods. Coming from furniture making I know about woods and how to buy it. I built relationships with mills and suppliers where I could look through their products. I felt that the people buying my product deserved this.

I have spent time reading about the woods that I would use in making baits. These numbers are general weights and can change in the quality and preparation of the wood for sale.

I'm sure that there are respectable suppliers out there, but anything can happen. No matter what wood you buy know about it, so you get the wood you want and deserve. If I walk up to a shelve and the wood has a name for it, in a pile of this wood you will fine different qualities. Know what to pick up and buy.

Just my thoughts,

Dale

[mark poulson]

Many years ago, we used panel walls and build cabinets out of white pine.

I don't use it anymore, but making a bait from white pine brought back a ton of memories for me.  Through the entire shaping process I got the smell of the pine.

The wood shaped easily, was buoyant and strong, and held up.

We used other woods, like ash, oak, and walnut, but pine just seemed to like being worked.

[Chuck Young]

After this research, and after reading posts from Rayburnguy (thanks Ben), I am looking to acquire some paulownia. Although of eastern origin, it grows in the United States. It grows fast and has excellent strength to weight ratio with no knots. Some have dubbed it the wood of the future. I have started a new thread to determine a good source.

Edited October 2, 2016 by Chuck Young

[stretcher66]

wow with the price tag on paulownia, you would have to charge $50 per crankbait to break even.  

[Chuck Young]

Balsa is a lot more than $10 per board ft. A 1/2" X 12" X 24" piece of paulownia wood (1 board ft or $10 worth) will make 144 4" long rapala style minnows. Less than 10 cents in wood cost. It's the labor that costs.

[stretcher66]

do you have a link for that? all i can find is surfboard blanks on ebay and everywhere else i have looked refers it as balsa. thanks 

[Chuck Young]

I have another thread going for paulonia sources. But here is one link. Search google and if you find better, please post there.

http://www.paulowniaseed.com/Ordering/Lumber-Orders

Edited October 2, 2016 by Chuck Young

[northrivergeek]

I have another thread going for paulonia sources. But here is one link. Search google and if you find better, please post there.

http://www.paulowniaseed.com/Ordering/Lumber-Orders

Paulownia grows all around me .. cut and dried is the prob, but the this place isn't more than 2 hr drive .. next trip to Pigeon Forge , I will make a run by there

[BobP]

Paulownia is a very good crankbait wood due to its strength and buoyancy (nominally 18 lbs/cu ft). The trouble with buying it is that there are a lot of online sources that want to sell you "miracle paulownia trees" instead of cut and seasoned wood planks. But you can usually find it online if you keep looking.

[Chuck Young]

A whole tree would make a nice big lure!

[DoubleT]

On the chart it appears that some of the wood varies in density and some of them don't. For example, western red cedar in comparison to basswood. 

Cedar, western red    0.38    23    23

Basswood    0.3 - 0.6    20 - 37    20

Is all western red cedar  0.38 (10³ kg/m³) 23 (lb/ft³) ?  What is last number on the basswood (20) and cedar (23)? Is that a average?

Thanks for any help.

 

[DoubleT]

After some research it appears that western red cedar does have a range. It isn't that broad though so maybe that's why it is'nt represented in the graph.

 

[Anglinarcher]

I love wood, but always keep in mind that densities vary from the core of the tree to the bark of the tree.  Densities vary from one tree to another depending on soil conditions, water conditions, etc.  Trees vary in density from the north slope of a hill or mountain to the south slope.

"IN THE DAY", when wood lures were king and little else was used, it was not uncommon for on out of five lures to have that "special" action.  Pros use to search out those lures and keep them just for the tournaments.

A lot of great information has been presented here, but always remember that densities, quality, how it was dried, what moisture content it was dried to, will always vary.

Just keep that in mind, and then, send me some samples of .................... to test.  LOL 

 

[DoubleT]

 

6 minutes ago, Anglinarcher said:

I love wood, but always keep in mind that densities vary from the core of the tree to the bark of the tree.  Densities vary from one tree to another depending on soil conditions, water conditions, etc.  Trees vary in density from the north slope of a hill or mountain to the south slope.

"IN THE DAY", when wood lures were king and little else was used, it was not uncommon for on out of five lures to have that "special" action.  Pros use to search out those lures and keep them just for the tournaments.

A lot of great information has been presented here, but always remember that densities, quality, how it was dried, what moisture content it was dried to, will always vary.

Just keep that in mind, and then, send me some samples of .................... to test.  LOL 

 

There are definitely a lot of variables involved. I can see why resin baits are so appealing. lol. I just wasn't having any luck making them out of resin and microballons. I might just have to take you up on that test lure offer. Haha. Thanks for the info.

[Anglinarcher]

PM me and I can help some on getting the right densities with resins.  Once you get it figured out, it is very consistent. 

I suppose that is why injected hollow plastic become so popular, easy to reproduce.  But, having said that, I still miss the wood Flatfish made by Helen from my youth, so much more action then the plastic versions made today.

PS, for those that love to work with pine, I love the smell as well.  I cannot make lure very fast, but sometimes the relaxation from sanding one down and just 'smelling' the work is all I need.

[SW Lures]

I was working pine several years ago and I agree with the smell of pine. It just doesn't have the action that I like. The grains are a pain in the rear.  Basswood, balsa has hardly no grains. The white poplar that I use has very little grains. I just can't get pine consistent with moisture, desitnsity etc.

I do agree tho about pine.

[DoubleT]

I make a 8" long musky glide bait. I used some pine (2x4) recently and it seems the density was inconsistent in a single board. One lure the screw eyes felt like they were going to hold good and the next one the screw eyes felt like I could turn them back out by hand. Also, the holes for the weights were softer then harder. I am pick up a 12' long 8x4 piece of western red cedar this weekend from a local lumber supplier. I'm hoping to settle on this for the type wood I use.

I couldn't get the micro balloons and resin to work for me on this particular lure. Even at 100% micro balloons, the lure would barely float. I was casting it in a pressure chamber try to achieve the closest consistency as possible. If I didn't use the pressure chamber they were all over the place. One would sink, one would float, etc. I imagine it was from the bubbles that were introduced during stirring. Hence the reason for the pressure chamber.  It will totally eliminate the bubbles but then it seemed I couldn't add enough balloons to get the lure to float good. Also, resin is a bear to pour at 100% balloons.  

[Anglinarcher]

When I intend on using strictly resin and microballons and want it to float, I rotomold it and leave the center hollow.  I never pour with 100% microballons (with one exception) and if I am rotomolding I only have about 20% microballons, just enough to make it a little sticky.

I use Alumifoam when I want to pour a floating bait that I don't need to worry about.  I get very consistent results and it is the density of cedar.  Plus, Alumifoam is tough as nails.

[SW Lures]

I have never used resins but have been interested for some time. While reading about microballons I have always wondered why not leave a cavity in the bait like AA is describing.

Maybe doing the bait in halves, similar to plastic body's. Or in some type of cavity like drilling and then plugging. I do this in some wooden baits to create rattle chambers. The cavity creates buoyancy even with the bb's. I also use wood to plug the chamber to give some balance in the lift. Some use bondo and other man made products (density is different) but I put back what I take out, except for the chamber of course.

Some times throwing around ideas creates a solution.

Edited September 16, 2017 by SW Lures
Adding comment

[mark poulson]

On 9/15/2017 at 0:43 AM, Anglinarcher said:

When I intend on using strictly resin and microballons and want it to float, I rotomold it and leave the center hollow.  I never pour with 100% microballons (with one exception) and if I am rotomolding I only have about 20% microballons, just enough to make it a little sticky.

I use Alumifoam when I want to pour a floating bait that I don't need to worry about.  I get very consistent results and it is the density of cedar.  Plus, Alumifoam is tough as nails.

What do you use to rotate your mold?

[Anglinarcher]

Because it sets up in about 7 minutes or less, I normally let it cook for two or three then pour.  Then I just rotate it with my hand.

But, I have been looking at making something for that.  Check out the following link for an idea of one of my next projects.  LOL

 

 

[Anglinarcher]

16 hours ago, SW Lures said:

I have never used resins but have been interested for some time. While reading about microballons I have always wondered why not leave a cavity in the bait like AA is describing.

Maybe doing the bait in halves, similar to plastic body's. Or in some type of cavity like drilling and then plugging. I do this in some wooden baits to create rattle chambers. The cavity creates buoyancy even with the bb's. I also use wood to plug the chamber to give some balance in the lift. Some use bondo and other man made products (density is different) but I put back what I take out, except for the chamber of course.

Some times throwing around ideas creates a solution.

I have also considered making baits in halves with resin.  The biggest thing is getting a dimensionally stable mold so that the two halves match up all the time.  I was thinking of trying that with VacMaster 50, but that is a project for the future.

[mark poulson]

2 hours ago, Anglinarcher said:

Because it sets up in about 7 minutes or less, I normally let it cook for two or three then pour.  Then I just rotate it with my hand.

But, I have been looking at making something for that.  Check out the following link for an idea of one of my next projects.  LOL

 

 

Thanks.

[SW Lures]

On 9/16/2017 at 10:38 PM, Anglinarcher said:

I have also considered making baits in halves with resin.  The biggest thing is getting a dimensionally stable mold so that the two halves match up all the time.  I was thinking of trying that with VacMaster 50, but that is a project for the future.

If you make a wooden profile and split it in half with a fine blade, like on a 1/4" band saw blade wouldn't it match?

I just thought about the cavity having to be molded or carved out in some fashion. I'm thinking about it. It seems that that would be the answer to microballon issues. I don't know if is worth the effort for the rewards. Weighting the belly could balance the bait. I real don't know because I haven't done any resin work, but sometimes I can brain storm when I can find the brain cells to corporate with each other.