Persimmon

Specs

Common Names

Persimmon, White Ebony

Scientific Name

Diospyros virginiana

Origin

Eastern United States

Appearance

Very wide sapwood is a white to pale yellowish-brown. Color tends to darken with age. Very thin heartwood (usually less than 1″ wide) is dark brown to black, similar to ebony. (Persimmon is in the same genus—Diospyros—as true ebonies.) Grain is straight, with a uniform medium-coarse texture. Endgrain: Semi-ring-porous; medium-large earlywood pores sometimes form broken rows, latewood pores medium-small; solitary and radial multiples of 2-3; growth rings usually distinct; rays not visible without lens; parenchyma diffuse-in-aggregates, vasicentric, and banded (reticulate and marginal).

Avg. Dried Weight

52 lbs/ft3 (835 kg/m3)

Janka Hardness

2300 lbf

Modulus of Rupture

17,700 lbf/in2 (122.1 MPa)

Elastic Modulus

2,010,000 lbf/in2 (13.86 GPa)

Crushing Strength

9,170 lbf/in2 (63.2 MPa)

Shrinkage

Radial: 7.9%, Tangential: 11.2%, Volumetric: 19.1%, T/R Ratio: 1.4

Durability

Being that nearly all of Persimmon is sapwood, it is rated as perishable and is susceptible to insect attack.

Workability

Overall workability is so-so. Persimmon generally responds well to hand tools, but can be difficult to plane and blunts cutting edges faster than expected. Turns and finishes well.