Materials that promise to enhance performance proliferate new products, and this ‘performance enhancing’ label is one that anyone buying any type of consumer product can recognize. As a materials family, woods are not generally considered as being able to contribute much to these material stories in the way that those such as progressive and advanced carbon fibre or high-tech ceramics like alumina do, but in relation to natural materials hickory is ‘the’ performance timber.
Hickory is not strong and dependable in the way that oak is characterized, but more ‘high performance’ in a way that can be likened to sports performance. As testament to these high-performance characteristics, hickory has many applications in sports, largely due to its ability to absorb physical shock without breaking, and it has the natural ability to enhance the functionality of the user.
Like so many modern performance materials that sit outside of the wood family it is the combination of properties, rather than any distinctive grain or colour, that make the pale-coloured hickory stand out. Its straight and even grain gives it properties of shock and energy absorption, an ability to not splinter when flexed, and a high stiffness that is valued in as the handles for tools such as hammers.
Image: Hickory drum sticks
•Moderately high density: 835 kg/m3 51 lbs/ft3)
•Straight grained with a course texture
•Difficult to work
•Steam bends very well
•High bending strength
•High stiffness
•Very high shock resistance
Sources
Most commercial grades of hickory come from the Eastern United States and South Eastern Canada.
Cost
Mid range, comparable with soft maple.
Sustainability issues
This wood species is not listed in the CITES appendices of endangered species.
Production
Hickory can be difficult to work, with cutting tools needing to be kept sharp due to the rapid blunting effect of the timber. It can be steam bent easily but can be difficult to glue, though it finishes and stains well.
Typical applications
Hickory, like ash, is often used for handles due to its high bending strength, although hickory surpasses ash with one of the highest bending strengths and stiffness of any wood. It is used for baseball bats, hockey sticks and lacrosse sticks, tool handles for hammers and axes, the rungs of ladders and for drum sticks.
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–Extremely shock resistant –Strong and stiff –Does not splinter –Steam bends well –Sustainable |
–Difficult to work with tools |