A List Of Hardwoods And Softwoods

As the name may suggest softwood timber is not necessarily softer than hardwood timber across the board as there is a great variation in the physical toughness of both hardwoods and softwoods with some softwoods actually being harder than some hardwoods.

A list of hardwoods and softwoods.

This poster explains the difference between hardwoods and softwoods. Here is a list of common hardwoods and softwoods used in the crafting of furniture. Because most coniferous trees grow fast and straight softwoods are generally less expensive than hardwoods. For example swietena mahagony south american mahogany and african mahogany are all marketed as mahogany but their properties can be quite different.

A thorough understanding of how to distinguish hardwoods from softwoods is essential as you make your choices for the next project. Hardwoods angiosperms abachi triplochiton. This is the second poster on materials. 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 article is a one stop guide to provide some insights into the traditional classification of wood. Softwoods come from coniferous trees such as cedar fir and pine and tend to be somewhat yellow or reddish. This wood has a soft red brown coloration with a fine straight grain and a smattering of knots. Softwoods aren t weaker than hardwoods.

Hardwood and softwood and the distinctive set of characteristics of each type of wood which will determines the aesthetic and intrinsic strength of the. Hardwood is the wood of dicot angiosperms. Do note a wood s heartwood is harder than its sapwood. This is a list of woods most commonly used in the timber and lumber trade.

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. Types of softwood cedar cedar wood image. Wood is hard and heavy with a rough texture. Wood is soft and light with a fine texture.

Tracheids perform the same function as the pores in hardwood trees and also produce sap which protects the trees from pests and transports water and other essential elements necessary for growth. Also wood names can be misleading. Unlike hardwoods softwoods do not have pores but instead contain linear tubes known as tracheids which supply nutrients for growth. Hoop pine araucaria cunninghamii monkey puzzle tree araucaria araucana paraná pine araucaria angustifolia cedar cedrus celery top pine.

Softwood is the wood of gymnosperms. Wikimedia commons the reason why we have included this wood in our list of softwoods is that people tend to consider cedar as hardwood but no it is a softwood.