Woodworker’s Toolbox v1.3 — Wood Reference
Wood moves. It always has, and experienced woodworkers know that understanding how much a given species moves is just as important as knowing how hard it is or how it works with hand tools. Version 1.3 of Woodworker’s Toolbox is built around that idea.
What’s new
- Wood Species Database — A browsable reference covering 40+ species with Janka hardness, shrinkage values, grain pattern, workability notes, and sustainability data (CITES status, FSC availability). The foundation everything else in this update is built on.
- Wood Hardness Chart — All species ranked by Janka rating with a visual hardness bar, filter by region or hardness category, and an lbf/kN toggle for those working in metric.
- Wood Shrinkage Chart — Radial, tangential, and volumetric shrinkage for every species in the database, with a colour-coded stability rating so you can compare candidates side by side before committing to a project.
- Wood Expansion Matcher — Pick a primary species and find others that move similarly. Essential when you’re pairing woods in breadboard ends, inlay, or any mixed-species joinery where mismatched movement causes long-term problems.
- Wood Movement Calculator — Enter a species, board width, grain orientation, and moisture content range, and get the expected expansion or contraction in inches and mm. Useful whenever you need a concrete number to design around.
Why it matters
Wood movement is one of those things that separates a piece that lasts from one that doesn’t. Whether you’re building a dining table top, a frame-and-panel door, or a solid wood drawer bottom, knowing how much your wood is likely to move — and whether the other species in the project moves the same way — is real shop intelligence. These tools put that information in your pocket.
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