Wood species

Hickory

Carya spp. (true hickories: C. tomentosa, C. ovata, C. glabra, C. laciniosa); reference page Carya tomentosa · Juglandaceae

Among the hardest and strongest woods native to the United States, harder on average than white oak or hard maple, and sold as a mix of four true hickories and often pecan, which is itself a hickory.

Density: 51.0 lb/ft³
Shrinkage T / R: 11.0 / 7.7 %
Origin: Eastern United States
IUCN Red List: Least Concern

Shop Hickory in stock (4)All live edge slabs

Pictured: (Pre-Built) Hickory Classic Cut Tabletop #PB047 117" x 39" x 2.3"

About Hickory

Hickory is among the hardest and strongest woods native to the United States, denser, stiffer and harder on average than white oak or hard maple. Heartwood is light to medium brown with a reddish hue, sapwood a paler yellowish brown, and slabs often carry both in bold bands. Grain is usually straight, sometimes wavy, with a medium texture. It is hard on tooling: it blunts edges and tears out if knives are not sharp, so we take light passes and finish with the sander. Under a clear finish the two-tone bands stay plain to see. It suits dining tops, desks and benches that see hard use. Ours is milled and kiln dried in Zebulon, NC.

Working & finishing

Difficult to work: tearout is common in machining if cutting edges are not kept sharp, and the wood blunts edges quickly, so OCC runs fresh knives, light planer passes and the drum sander for the final surface. The Wood Database pages consulted do not rate hickory's gluing or finishing. An oil or hardwax finish keeps the two-tone heartwood and sapwood bands plain to see; a film finish suits a top that needs spill protection.

Care

Wipe spills promptly and clean with a damp cloth. Hickory has the highest shrinkage of OCC's Tier 1 species, so expect more seasonal width movement than oak or walnut and keep the top on a base that lets it move. Indoor use only; hardness is not rot resistance.

In stock now