Hickory

Hickory provides the right combination of properties -- strength, hardness, very high shock resistance and relatively light weight -- that make it a perfect choice for sporting goods like baseball bats, golf club shafts, skis, longbow backs, heavy sea fishing rods and lacrosse sticks.

Of the 18 or so species of hickory, four are important for their wood. Shagbark is found mostly in the eastern half of the United States. Also commercially important is shellbark hickory which looks a lot like shagbark, mockernut hickory and pignut hickory.

The true hickories grow in ranges from eastern Canada through much of the eastern United States all the way into southwestern Mexico. The biggest use for hickory is in tool handles. Common uses include the handles of striking tools -- hammers, picks and axes -- and wheel spokes, chairs and ladder rungs. It is used for furniture, drumsticks, picking sticks for textiles, tennis rackets, skis and vehicle parts, especially heavy-duty farm equipment. It is also fine for sculpture and carving and is rotary cut for plywood faces and sliced for decorative veneers for uses including paneling.

Hickory wood resembles ash but has a reddish-brown heartwood. When appearance is important, the so-called white hickory, referring to the white sapwood, is often preferred to the heartwood sometimes called red hickory. Hickory, ash and oak are ring porous woods, meaning that the pores of the spring wood form a well-defined ring. It is believed that the toughest timber comes from wide-ringed trees. True hickories usually have a straight grain but it is sometimes wavy or irregular.

Hickory is heavy and strong, but shrinks during drying. It is dense, with high toughness, bending, stiffness and crushing strengths and exceptional shock resistance. It can be difficult to machine and has a moderate blunting effect on tools. Experts recommend a 20-degree cutting angle when irregular grained-wood is used. Stains and finishes very well.