Uses and Value of Persimmon
A disussion of what persimmon wood is worth, and what it's good for. December 15, 2005
Question
How hard is persimmon to dry - is it like hickory? Also, how stable is it and would it make a good floor? Any help is appreciated.
Forum Responses
(Sawing and Drying Forum)
From contributor W:
I cut and dried some 9/4 for a gentle man and it was not very easy to dry. It was prone to cracking, but that was thick stock in 4/4. It may not be nearly as bad for you. It is very hard when dry and would wear well as a floor, but its not easy to get any amount of it in my area.
From contributor A:
It must be pretty hard and durable. When golf club heads on drivers and fairway woods used to be wood rather than the metal of today, they were often persimmon.
From contributor T:
Hickory might be a decent parallel. Put lots of weight on it because it likes to twist and warp.
From contributor R:
When I was scavenging through eight acres of pecan that had been bulldozed down to burn, a different tree on the ground caught my eye. The wood was very yellow. I cut about a 4 foot piece off the main trunk and later found someone to tell me what it was because I didn't know and it was persimmon. "You'd better go back and get some more of that," he said. I certainly did. The tree is about 14 inches in diameter and I now have three logs totaling about 16 feet in all.
From contributor E:
Persimmon is very hard to season because of loggerhead worms, knot-release splitting that can go full length of the bole, discoloration, decay, cupping and warping when dried after milling, and of course, checking. The only way to prevent all of the above is to properly cure the wood in log form.
