Common Softwoods And Hardwoods

In both groups there is an enormous variation in actual wood hardness the range of density in hardwoods completely including that of softwoods.

Common softwoods and hardwoods.

Softwood is usually wood from gymnosperm trees such as pines and spruces softwoods are not necessarily softer than hardwoods. Common hardwoods and softwoods for furniture. Western red cedar as its name implies has a reddish color to it. Hough us forest products laboratory characteristics and availability of commercially important wood from the wood handbook pdf 916k.

Ncsu inside wood project reproduction of the american woods. Hardwoods are sourced from broad leaved trees. Also wood names can be misleading. Typically they grow slower and are thicker than softwoods.

The most common type of cedar is the western red variety. For example swietena mahagony south american mahogany and african mahogany are all marketed as mahogany but their. Following is a list of common softwood varieties and their characteristics. Here is a list of common hardwoods and softwoods used in the crafting of furniture.

For example balsa wood is known as one of the softest and least dense types of wood yet it is. Most common hardwoods unlike the conifers or softwood firs spruce and pines hardwood trees have evolved into a broad array of common species. Some common types of hardwoods include oak teak iroko and meranti. The wood from hardwood trees tends to be harder because the trees grow at a slower rate giving the wood its greater density.

To help you in choosing the right wood for your construction project here are three of the most common types of softwood lumber and what they are used for. However this is not what qualifies a piece of wood as either soft or hard. Do note a wood s heartwood is harder than its sapwood. Exhibited by actual specimens and with copious explanatory text by romeyn b.

Hardwoods are also stronger and more durable due to their more condensed and complex structure. 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. 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.