Hardwoods |
 Email a Friend |
Alder (Alnus Rubra) | back to the top
The first of the domestic hardwoods, this is also referred to as "Red Alder" or "Western Alder". It has a pale yellow to red-brown color, the surface of which looks alot like cherry wood. It has a very even texture all around. It is of a medium to soft durability and is very suited to cabinetry and furniture making. Carpenters like to work with Alder because of its ease for carving, turning, and for building minor utility products.
Ash (Fraxinus americana) | back to the top
Northern Hard Ash is an open grain wood that is white with creamy accents. Because of the surface beauty of this wood, it is excellent for clear finishes. Northern Ash is very dense and is extremely durable. It is so durable, in fact, that it is often used for major league baseball bats! It also has a high shock resistance and excellent bending qualities. Northern Hard Ash is great for fine furniture, tool handles and cabinetry.
Balsa (Bombacaceae) | back to the top
Balsa wood is a very soft textured wood that has a beige, greyish color with small streaks. The wood has almost no grain at all and is very lightweight. This is, in fact, the softest and lightest hardwood used commercially. Its weight and its ease in cutting is what has made it so attractive in model building for airplanes, toy cars and even boats. It is also used in architectural modeling. Balsa has the greatest strength to weight ratio of all the commercially made woods.
Basswood (Tilia Americana) | back to the top
Basswood is also known as "American Lime" and it has a creamy-white color which will eventually turn brown after it has been exposed to the sun. It is also has some brown or grey streaks. It is a soft textured wood with almost no grain. This wood is lighter in weight and is closed-grain so that can absorb a lot of finish. Its common useage is for woodburning, pattern-making, painted folkart and veneered woodworking projects such as tabletops and counters.
Beech(Fagus grandifolia) | back to the top
Beech wood is a closed pored, medium densed wood with an extremely tight grain. The color is beige to medium brown with some little brown signature dash lines that make it very easy to identify. It often has a nice curl that can be brought out with a little patience and a good finish. The bark is very smooth and it was historically used as a writing pad by our ancestral scholars. Beech is also especially useful as a food container as it doesn't have any taste or odor and will maintain the original flavor of our foods.
Birch (Betula lutea) | back to the top
"Yellow Birch" as it is often called, is a medium density wood with a creamy whitish yellow to reddish brown color. The figure has some wonderful wavy grain patterns and, when it is properly sanded and polished, it can become spectacularly iridescent! It spalts beautifully and will even grow some very pleasing burls that suit alot of decorators tastes. It is very easy to sand, machine and finish so it shows up on alot of surface finishes. Birch is mostly used in building and decorative veneers as it looks great under the spotlight!
Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) | back to the top
"American Black Walnut", as it is more formally known, is a soft to medium density wood. It is closed pored and has a very tight grain. The color is a beautiful dark brown with unique purple overtones that are very appealing. This is the darkest natural wood that can be found in North America. Walnut has a rather coarse texture but it polishes extremely well. It can be sanded to a nice, smooth finish as long as you watch the grain direction. Walnut is used in almost every kind of fine cabinet work and especially in 18th century reproductions.
Cherry (Prunus serotina) | back to the top
American Black Cherry is a soft to medium density wood that is closed pored and has a very tight grain. This wood has some wonderful pink and reddish brown colours that turn into a rich russet brown as they age. The wood sands and finishes very nicely and has some elegant grain patterns and burls. Popular uses include veneers and solids in a variety of styles. Cherry has also been referred to as the "New England Mahogany" and has thereby been used to craft 18th century, Colonial and French Provincial designs.
Elm (Ulmus Rubra) | back to the top
Elm is a moderately heavy, hard and stiff wood. It is probably the best hardwood available for shock resistance and bending qualities because of its interlocking grain that makes it very difficult to split. The sapwood is a greyish white to light brown with a heartwood that is reddish brown to dark brown in color. Elm has a coarse texture but is fairly easy to work with. It will nail, screw and glue extremely well and can be sanded and stained to a good finish. Elm is mostly used in furniture, cabinet making, flooring and millwork.
English Walnut (Juglans Regia) | back to the top
English Walnut is the most highly prized material for gunstock wood. It is also called "French Walnut", "Italian Walnut", or "European Walnut". This wood has good firm texture and small pores. The dark heartwood has what are called 'Water Marks' and these are the dark lines that give the wood much of its appeal. The more streaking in this wood, the higher the grade. It varies somewhat in its color, texture and general appearance from one region to another.
Hard Maple (Acer saccharum) | back to the top
Eastern Hard Maple is also known as "Hard Rock Maple", "White Maple"or "Sugar Maple" and it is a very hard, heavy and dense wood. The grain is closed and the wood is especially easy to finish. It is normally off-white in color but often has many elegant figures in the grain. Two of the more common figures are referred to as "Tiger" , or "Fiddleback" maples. Hard Maple has been made famous by Fender Musical Instruments as the company has traditionally used this wood in the necks of their guitars.
Hickory (Carya glabra) | back to the top
Hickory, or "White Hickory" as it is often referred, is light in color. There is a heartwood, however, that can be very dark reddish-brown and is referred to as "Red Hickory". Both are a coarse-textured wood with a straight grain that can occasionally be irregular or wavy. Although it is hard to work with, it polishes very nicely and it is often used for assorted items such as chairs, baseball bats, skis or sports rackets. It is also popular as a material for tool handles such as on an axe or a hammer.
Madrone (Arbutus menziesii) | back to the top
Madrone is also known as "Madrono" or "Strawberry Wood". It is known for its wonderful burls and fine, uniform and dense texture. The grain is straight to slightly wavy and the color is an even light pink to a reddish brown. The sapwood is more of a cream color with a pink tint. Madrone is strong but somewhat brittle. It works well with hand tools and power tools and can be finished to a fine, polished surface. Small fittings, rails, trim work and carvings are often made with Madrone. It also makes nice framing and hull timbering.
Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) | back to the top
Also known as "American mahogany" or "Florida mahogany", this wood is deep brown to reddish brown in color. Freshly cut, it ranges from a light pink to yellow, but on exposure, it gets darker. It is relatively soft, easy to turn and it sands and finishes easily. Mahogany is often called the "aristocrat of the cabinet woods". It is very strong and uniform in its structure. It also has a moderately open grain. This is definitely a wood with excellent woodworking qualities.
Myrtlewood (Umbellularia californica) | back to the top
Myrtle is also known as "Oregon Myrtle" or "California Laurel". Its beautiful grain and burl patterns have given it a far reaching appeal with woodworkers and cabinetmakers everywhere. This is possibly the most intricate figure of any wood available so it is especially adored in specialty items. It is moderately hard and heavy and the color is dark brown to almost black with very fine black lines. Myrtlewood is popular in fine custom furniture, gifts, flooring and many extraordinary and unique products.
Poplar (Liriodendron Tulipifera) | back to the top
Poplar has a very unique look with a grey/green color and a closed grain that accepts finish extremely well. Also known as "Whitewood" or Tulip Poplar", it is a fairly soft and lightweight wood with a straight grain and very fine texture. There is also a brown heartwood with colored streaks that has a very attractive look. Common uses for Poplar include joinery, furniture, carving and light construction projects.
Red Oak (Quercus rubra) | back to the top
Red Oak is probably the most commonly used wood in North America. "Southern Red Oak", also known as "Spanish Oak" or "Swamp Oak, is very similar to this wood. It has a medium density with some pale pink overtones. Red Oak is also a distinctive, porous and grainy wood which gives it a great versatility for a variety of projects. Most commonly, it is used for cabinets, flooring and various forms of household millwork. It was also the primary material for the Gothic furniture of the Middle Ages.
Soft Maple (Acer saccharium) | back to the top
Soft Maple can generally be divided into three types: red, silver and black. They are all relatively soft textured and closed pored. The colors range from white, beige to medium brown. They tend to be very hard to finish and not very interesting to look at unless they are burled or spalted. They sometimes have some darker coloured bands that make them a bit more interesting. Because they can all be colour variable, they are often used for paint or dark stained furniture components. Soft Maple is not as brittle as the harder woods and is therefore great for veneering and for ornamental pieces.
Teak (Tectona grandis) | back to the top
Teak is often referred to as "The king of the marine industry". It has a uniform golden-brown color that silvers beautifully once it has been left outdoors. It also has a straight grain that is very richly figured. This is a tough wood to work with however. You need to keep your tools very sharp and be careful of the dust as it can be dangerous. Teak is second to none for boat decking and outdoor furniture. It is also great for floor tiles
White Ash (Fraxinus Americana) | back to the top
Also known as "Canadian Ash" or "American White Ash", this is a heavy wood that is coarse and straight grained. The heartwood color is more of a pale brown rather than white as the sapwood. White Ash has a high bending strength and so it is often used in projects that can benefit from its maleable quality. Such projects typically include the construction of boats, joinery, curved furniture and handles for various tools.
White Oak (Quercus alba) | back to the top
American White Oak, as it is more formally known, is a fairly non-porous wood that is straight-grained with a medium-coarse texture. When it is first cut, the wood often has an almost buttery smell to it that is very pleasing. White Oak is commonly used for high quality veneers and for building timbers. Other uses for White Oak include the material for flooring, plywood and for interior joinery.
| Email a Friend |