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Wood hardness

Acidwater

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Joined
Jun 19, 2025
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I've read that wood hardness plays a massive role when working with it and Janka seems to be something that I should keep in mind. I'm guessing it's a unit for hardness, but can somoene explain it to me simple?
 
yah janka rating is basically a scale that measures how hard a wood is, in simple terms, it tells you how much force it takes to push a steel ball halfway into the wood, the higher the number, the harder and usually tougher to work with the wood is
So something like balsa is really low on the scale
 
What exactly does the Janka number measure, is it how much force it takes to dent the wood, or something else entirely? Trying to wrap my head around how it applies in real life.
 
yah janka rating is basically a scale that measures how hard a wood is, in simple terms, it tells you how much force it takes to push a steel ball halfway into the wood, the higher the number, the harder and usually tougher to work with the wood is
So something like balsa is really low on the scale
Ah, that clears it up. Thanks! I'm in Arizona and just started building a small workbench using reclaimed oak, which I hear has a pretty high Janka rating.

Does the rating also affect how prone the wood is to splitting or chipping when cut? And how do you usually handle super hard woods, special blades or slower feed rates?
 
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