Janka Rating Hardwood

In hardwood flooring the score is used to determine the durability of hardwood species that it might be suitable for a home.

Janka rating hardwood.

A janka rating is a hardness estimate given to wood. No matter what species you re interested in chances are it has already undergone the janka hardness test. These ratings were calculated using the janka hardness test which measures the force needed to embed a 444 inch steel ball to half its diameter in a piece of wood. The janka test was developed as a variation of the brinell hardness test.

Hardwood flooring species are usually compared to red oak as the basis such as. It is not productive to take issue with the exact number but rather understand the relative hardness of one wood to another. The higher the number the harder the wood. Woods with a higher rating are harder than woods with a lower rating.

The scale used in the table is pounds force. The scale was invented in 1906 by gabriel janka an austrian wood researcher and standardized in 1927 by the american society for testing and materials astm. Similar to a laminate ac rating the hardwood floor hardness determines the durability of the species. The test measures the force required to push a steel ball with a diameter of 11 28 millimeters 0 444 inches into the wood to a depth of half the ball s diameter.

To give some quantification to the issue of wood species hardness the lumber industry created the janka hardness scale a standard now widely accepted as the best means of ranking a wood s hardness. The janka hardness test the janka test is a measure of the hardness of wood. The janka test measures the amount of force needed to drive a 0 444 inch steel ball into wood to a depth equal to half its diameter. Use this guide to understand precisely what each rating means for a better likelihood of choosing the right hardwood flooring.

The janka rating scale was created to rank the various degrees of hardness throughout the different species of hardwoods. For hardwood flooring the test usually requires a 2 6 sample with a thickness of at least 6 8mm and the most commonly used test is the astm d1037. The janka scale is used to determine the relative hardness of particular domestic or exotic wood species. A common use of janka hardness ratings is to determine whether a species is suitable for use as flooring.

As an example red oak hardwood has a janka rating of 1260 meaning it took 1260 pounds of force to embed the steel ball half way into the sample piece of red oak. The janka rating is a measure of the amount of force required to push a 444 diameter steel ball half way into a piece of wood. Forest service list the relative hardness for numerous wood species used in flooring. The janka hardness scale determines the hardness of a particular type of wood over another.

Brazilian cherry jatoba hardwood flooring is 224 times harder than a red oak floor.