How hard is Hawaiian Cypress?

Hawaiian Cypress has a Janka hardness of 620 lbf (2,760 N), a USDA Forest Products Laboratory value at 12% moisture content. That puts it well below cherry (950) and red oak (1,220), so it is a relatively soft wood that is easy to work by hand and machine.

Can Hawaiian Cypress be used outdoors?

Its heartwood is moderately durable, better than most plantation softwoods of this density, with moderate insect resistance. The body lists posts and fencing, exterior siding, and boat planking among its uses, so it suits outdoor work where extreme decay resistance is not required.

Is Hawaiian Cypress easy to work?

Yes. It is easy under hand and machine, planes, turns, and carves clean, holds nails and screws, glues without trouble, and takes paint and stain. Plantation knots are common and can tear out a little, and it gives off a sweet, resinous cedar-cypress smell at the cut.

ExoticCupressus lusitanica

Hawaiian Cypress

Plantation cypress out of Mexico, gone half-feral on Maui and Big Island.

Hawaiian Cypress (Cupressus lusitanica) is an exotic hardwood with a Janka hardness of 620 lbf. Its heartwood is pale yellow-brown to light pinkish brown, sometimes with darker streaks, with straight grain and a fine, even texture.

Category: Exotic
Janka: 620 lbf
Botanical: Cupressus lusitanica
Shipped at: 6–8% MC

Cupressus lusitanica Mexican Cypress (Hawaiian-grown plantation) · Mexican Cypress (Hawaiian-grown plantation) · C

"Hawaiian Cypress" is an informal label and stocks vary, so confirm the species when you order. Heartwood pale yellow-brown to light pinkish brown, sometimes with darker streaks.

Detail of Cypress, Hawaiian grain — figured wood texture, photographed at Raw Heartwood — A close read on the grain. Detail of this specimen

What you see.

Heartwood pale yellow-brown to light pinkish brown, sometimes with darker streaks. Narrow pale sapwood, not always sharply set off. Soft satiny luster typical of cypress.

Heartwood color detail of Cypress, Hawaiian (Cupressus lusitanica)

Heartwood, this specimen

How the grain runs.

Straight. Fine, even texture. Moderate ring transition — clean subtle figure on flatsawn faces.

Closer detail of Cypress, Hawaiian grain figure

Closer in

On the bench.

Moderately durable heartwood. Better than most plantation softwoods of this density. Insect resistance is moderate. Easy under hand and machine. Planes, turns, carves clean. Holds nails and screws. Glues without trouble. Takes paint and stain. Plantation knots are common and can tear out a little. Sweet, resinous cedar-cypress smell at the cut. Hangs around in cabinetry for years. Occasional skin and respiratory irritation in sensitive workers. Standard dust precautions.

The numbers, looked at directly.

Janka Hardness

0lbf

2,760 N. Side-hardness — force to embed a half-inch steel ball halfway into the wood.

Average Dried Weight

0lbs/ft³

495 kg/m³. At 12% MC.

Specific Gravity

0.42/ 0.49 at 12% MC

Basic over green volume; second number at 12% moisture content.

Hardness, in context

A side-hardness measurement. Higher number, harder wood.

Shrinkage — radial / tangential / volumetric

3.5%radial

5.5%tangential

9.5%volumetric

On sourcing

Where this wood comes from matters.

Not on CITES. IUCN Least Concern. Introduced plantation in Hawaii, not native, not protected. Naturalized but not a serious invasive. Plantation supply is well managed.

What it's for.

Construction lumber
Posts & fencing
Exterior siding
Interior joinery
Furniture
Boat planking
Pencil stock

Worth knowing.

"Hawaiian Cypress" is an informal label and stocks vary, so confirm the species when you order. Most Hawaiian-milled material is C. lusitanica from territorial-era forestry plantings — old windbreak rows still throw the occasional clear log.

Sources & references.

Cupressus lusitanica — Wikipedia contributors
Cupressus lusitanica — IUCN Red List — Farjon, A. (2013)
Mexican Cypress (Cupressus lusitanica) — The Wood Database
Cupressus lusitanica — Gymnosperm Database — Earle, C.J.
Hawaii's forest plantations — USDA Forest Service Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry
Cupressus lusitanica — CABI Compendium

Common questions.

How hard is Hawaiian Cypress?: Hawaiian Cypress has a Janka hardness of 620 lbf (2,760 N), a USDA Forest Products Laboratory value at 12% moisture content. That puts it well below cherry (950) and red oak (1,220), so it is a relatively soft wood that is easy to work by hand and machine.
Can Hawaiian Cypress be used outdoors?: Its heartwood is moderately durable, better than most plantation softwoods of this density, with moderate insect resistance. The body lists posts and fencing, exterior siding, and boat planking among its uses, so it suits outdoor work where extreme decay resistance is not required.
Is Hawaiian Cypress easy to work?: Yes. It is easy under hand and machine, planes, turns, and carves clean, holds nails and screws, glues without trouble, and takes paint and stain. Plantation knots are common and can tear out a little, and it gives off a sweet, resinous cedar-cypress smell at the cut.

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