How hard is lychee wood?

Lychee has a Janka hardness of 1690 lbf (7,520 N), a USDA Forest Products Laboratory reference value at 12% moisture content. That places it harder than hard maple but below hickory.

Is lychee wood suitable for outdoor use?

It is not recommended for outdoor use. The heartwood is only moderately durable and the pale sapwood is non-durable and prone to powderpost beetle attack, so lychee is better kept to indoor craft pieces.

What is lychee wood used for?

Lychee is a niche craft wood rather than a production timber, used for bowls, pens, knife scales, small turnings, jewelry boxes, accent inlay, and ukulele parts. It turns and finishes well and takes a high polish.

ExoticLitchi chinensis

Lychee

Orchard salvage. Not a production timber. Burl and crotch sections carry the figure.

Lychee (Litchi chinensis) is an exotic hardwood with a Janka hardness of 1690 lbf. Its heartwood is a warm reddish brown to russet with darker streaks and pinkish zones near the pith, and its grain runs interlocked or wavy from the tree's branching habit.

Category: Exotic
Janka: 1,690 lbf
Botanical: Litchi chinensis
Shipped at: 6–8% MC

Litchi chinensis Orchard salvage · Orchard salvage · Native to southern China (Guangdong

Native to southern China (Guangdong.

Niche craft wood, not a production timber. Heartwood warm reddish brown to russet, with darker streaks and pinkish or salmon zones near the pith.

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

What you see.

Heartwood warm reddish brown to russet, with darker streaks and pinkish or salmon zones near the pith. Pale cream sapwood, sharp line. Deepens under UV into a uniform mahogany tone.

Heartwood color detail of Lychee (Litchi chinensis)

Heartwood, this specimen

How the grain runs.

Interlocked or wavy from the branching habit. Irregular figure on flatsawn faces. Medium texture, natural luster under finish.

Closer in

On the bench.

Heartwood moderately durable. Small orchard logs come with end-checks and fungal staining. Sapwood is non-durable — powderpost beetles especially. Dense and interlocked, so hand work is demanding and figured stock tears under planers. Turns and finishes well, takes a high polish, glues with proper prep. None when dry. No widely reported reactions. Fine dust can irritate the lungs like any dense tropical hardwood. Standard PPE.

The numbers, looked at directly.

Janka Hardness

0lbf

7,520 N. Side-hardness — force to embed a half-inch steel ball halfway into the wood.

Average Dried Weight

0lbs/ft³

835 kg/m³. At 12% MC.

Specific Gravity

0.70/ 0.83 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

4.5%radial

8.5%tangential

13.0%volumetric

On sourcing

Where this wood comes from matters.

Not on CITES. Not on the IUCN Red List. Lumber is almost entirely orchard salvage from senile or storm-damaged fruit trees. Low-impact byproduct material. Supply is irregular and small.

What it's for.

Bowls
Pens
Knife scales
Small turnings
Jewelry boxes
Accent inlay
Ukulele parts

Worth knowing.

Niche craft wood, not a production timber. Logs run short and crooked with plenty of defect. Burl and crotch sections can carry exceptional figure when you find them.

Sources & references.

Lychee (Litchi chinensis) — Wikipedia contributors
Lychee (Litchi chinensis) — The Wood Database
Lychee Production in Hawaii — CTAHR, University of Hawaii at Manoa — Hamilton, R.A.; Nagai, V.
Litchi chinensis — Plants of the World Online (Kew)
Litchi chinensis — FAO Ecocrop
Litchi chinensis — PROSEA, Plant Resources of South-East Asia

Common questions.

How hard is lychee wood?: Lychee has a Janka hardness of 1690 lbf (7,520 N), a USDA Forest Products Laboratory reference value at 12% moisture content. That places it harder than hard maple but below hickory.
Is lychee wood suitable for outdoor use?: It is not recommended for outdoor use. The heartwood is only moderately durable and the pale sapwood is non-durable and prone to powderpost beetle attack, so lychee is better kept to indoor craft pieces.
What is lychee wood used for?: Lychee is a niche craft wood rather than a production timber, used for bowls, pens, knife scales, small turnings, jewelry boxes, accent inlay, and ukulele parts. It turns and finishes well and takes a high polish.

From the library to your bench