Common Soft And Hardwoods

Yet in the context of everyday woods that most people in the united states or canada are likely to encounter the list of possible woods is usually much shorter.

Common soft and hardwoods.

Classifying wood as either a hardwood or softwood comes down to its physical structure and makeup and so it is overly simple to think of hardwoods as being hard and durable compared to soft and workable softwoods. Hardwood trees also known as. Do note a wood s heartwood is harder than its sapwood. Hardwood tree characteristics apply to many of the tree species in this country.

What are hardwood trees. However this is not what qualifies a piece of wood as either soft or hard. Following is a list of common softwood varieties and their characteristics. The actual number listed in the wood profile is the amount of pounds force lb f or newtons n required to imbed a 444 11 28 mm diameter steel ball into the wood to half the ball s diameter.

For example swietena mahagony south american mahogany and african mahogany are all marketed as mahogany but their. Hickory firewood is often preferred. The most common type of cedar is the western red variety. Wood is generally categorized as either softwood or hardwood and it is a common misconception that softwood is soft and workable while hardwood is hard and durable.

The most common test for testing wood hardness is known as the janka hardness test. Softwood discussion read on. In the process of identifying wood things can get a bit overwhelming when faced with the hundreds and hundreds of possible species. Also wood names can be misleading.

Balsa for example is relatively soft and not very dense. Other soft hardwoods. This is by far the most common misconception people have about wood when they browse the aisles of the local lumber yard or big box building products store. This type of wood is relatively soft 1 on a scale of 1 to 4 has a straight grain and has a slightly aromatic smell.

If you want information about hardwood tree characteristics as well as a hardwood vs. For example balsa wood is known as one of the softest and least dense types of wood yet it is. This happens to be generally true but there are exceptions such as in the cases of wood from yew trees a softwood that is relatively hard and wood from balsa trees a. Western red cedar as its name implies has a reddish color to it.

Instead consider a harder denser hardwood like hickory oak or cherry. Hardwood is hard and softwood is soft. Common hardwoods and softwoods for furniture.