Stability is shrinkage, and shrinkage is published per species in both directions. Ranked by radial + tangential totals (green to ovendry), these are the steadiest woods in the dataset:
| # | Species | Radial | Tangential | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iroko | 2.8% | 3.8% | 6.6% |
| 2 | African Mahogany | 2.5% | 4.5% | 7.0% |
| 3 | Redwood (Old Growth) | 2.6% | 4.4% | 7.0% |
| 4 | Honduran Mahogany | 3.0% | 4.1% | 7.1% |
| 5 | Northern White Cedar | 2.2% | 4.9% | 7.1% |
| 6 | Western Redcedar | 2.4% | 5.0% | 7.4% |
| 7 | Eastern Redcedar | 3.1% | 4.7% | 7.8% |
| 8 | African Padauk | 3.1% | 5.0% | 8.1% |
| 9 | Eastern White Pine | 2.1% | 6.1% | 8.2% |
| 10 | Teak | 2.5% | 5.8% | 8.3% |
| 11 | Incense Cedar | 3.3% | 5.2% | 8.5% |
| 12 | Sugar Pine | 2.9% | 5.6% | 8.5% |
| 13 | Osage Orange | 3.8% | 5.6% | 9.4% |
| 14 | Butternut | 3.4% | 6.4% | 9.8% |
| 15 | Bald Cypress | 3.8% | 6.2% | 10.0% |
Cut. A quartersawn board moves on the radial number; a flatsawn board on the tangential — typically twice as much. Quartersawing a mid-table species makes it steadier than a flatsawn board of most species above it. When a top must be wide and solid, cut is the first decision, species the second.
Moisture discipline. Movement is shrinkage × the MC swing. Halve the swing — build at the home's mid-range EMC, finish all faces including the underside — and you have halved the movement of any species on this page. The calculator runs your exact width and swing.
Note who is not at the top: the oaks and beech that fill furniture catalogs sit mid-table or lower (American beech totals 17.4% — the liveliest common furniture wood here). They are used anyway, successfully, because joinery allowances are a solved problem — which is the point of checking the number instead of avoiding the species.