Oak, Pine, Mango & Acacia Sideboards: Hardness and Dent Resistance Test

Pine dents, oak and acacia resist, and mango sits between them: that ordering is set by the Janka hardness test, the industry standard for resistance to indentation. Our 2026 comparison sets out how the four timbers most used in UK sideboards behave in real domestic service, and argues that hardness answers only one question. Most marks a sideboard collects are surface scratches, ring marks and edge chips rather than deep dents, and those are governed by the finish rather than the species. We compare oiled, lacquered and high gloss surfaces, explain why a moderately hard timber with an oiled finish often ages better than a hard timber under thin gloss, and identify the structural failure points that decide when a sideboard is actually replaced: stapled back panels, weak drawer runners and rigidly fixed solid tops. Published by Furniture in Fashion. Hardness ordering follows the published Janka test scale for these four timbers....