One of the world’s favourite furniture and joinery species is Cherry, which is currently one of the best stocked of all American hardwoods - dry and ready to ship from the USA. Embraced by furniture designers, as well as millions of consumers, Cherry goes in fashion cycles. American Black Cherry is unique to North America, and is quite different to European or Asian cherry.

Black Cherry is a tall forest tree, rather than fruit or ornamental, such as trees originating in Asia. Its current growing stock came out of the natural fires of the early twentieth century in states such as Pennsylvania, when it was one of the first hardwood species to re-colonise by natural regeneration. It also grows widely in Virginia, West Virginia and New York State and now accounts for about 2% of the national hardwood standing forest resource, making it prone to fluctuating prices according to worldwide demand. In fact the UN statistics show America as the largest of all sawn hardwood producers in the world, and is the only commercial source of Prunus serotina.

Characteristics

It has quite a distinctive grain and is darker in colour than any other cherry, but may vary slightly according to location.  The sapwood is lighter in colour but tends to darken with age.  The heartwood has a warm lustrous colour of pale yellow to light reddish brown. Small gum pockets, found in some American Cherry, are a natural phenomenon and an integral part of its character. The wood has medium density.

Technical and working properties

Black cherry is relatively hard and is easy to machine and produces one of the best finishes when polished. It is dimensionally stable when dry and has good wood bending properties.  In the top grade of FAS, according to the NHLA Rule Book, 83% of the sawn lumber yields defect-free material. Lumber and veneer of Cherry are both readily available, which is an important issue for manufacturers wishing to match sawn wood with veneer.

	More About American Black Cherry
	Average Weight (12% M.C.): 561 Kg/m3
	Average Volumetric Shrinkage: 9.2% (Green to 6% M.C.)
	Modulus of Elasticity: 10,274
	Hardness: 4226 N
	Suitability: Fine furniture and cabinet making, high class joinery, kitchen cabinets, mouldings, panelling, flooring, doors, boat interiors, musical instruments, turning and carving.

This article is contributed by American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), the leading international trade association for the US hardwood industry, representing the committed US hardwood exporters and most of the major US hardwood product trade associations in the United States.

For more information, please visit www.ahec-seasia.org and www.nhla.com