Sweetgum

Liquidambar styraciflua · Hardwood · North America

Janka 850 lbf≈32 lb/ft³ dried (est.)

Properties

Janka hardness	850 lbf (3,781 N)
Average dried weight (est.)	32 lb/ft³ (520 kg/m³)
Specific gravity	0.52
Modulus of rupture	12,500 psi (86.2 MPa)
Modulus of elasticity	1.64 million psi (11.31 GPa)
Crushing strength	6,320 psi (43.6 MPa)
Shrinkage — radial	5.3%
Shrinkage — tangential	10.2%
Shrinkage — volumetric	15.8%
Shrinkage T/R ratio	1.9

Values at 12% moisture content, clear-wood averages. Source: USDA Forest Products Laboratory, Wood Handbook FPL-GTR-282 (2021), Table 5–3b p. 5–11; shrinkage Table 4–3 p. 4–8.

Sweetgum is sold as light-colored sap gum from the sapwood and reddish-brown redgum from the heartwood. Its lumber, veneer, and plywood go into furniture, interior molding and millwork, boxes and crates, slack cooperage, and railroad crossties.

Appearance & grain

Sweetgum lumber is usually separated into sap gum, the light-colored sapwood, and redgum, the reddish-brown heartwood. The wood often has interlocked grain, and quartersawn stock with interlocked grain produces a ribbon-type stripe that is desirable for interior woodwork and furniture.

Workability

Sweetgum often has interlocked grain and must be dried slowly as a result. The wood is moderately heavy and hard, moderately strong, moderately stiff, and moderately high in shock resistance.