A List Of Hardwoods And Softwoods

Softwood is the wood of gymnosperms.

A list of hardwoods and softwoods.

Do note a wood s heartwood is harder than its sapwood. More common examples of types of hardwoods and softwoods are displayed with practical applications. This wood has a soft red brown coloration with a fine straight grain and a smattering of knots. Because most coniferous trees grow fast and straight softwoods are generally less expensive than hardwoods.

Also wood names can be misleading. For example swietena mahagony south american mahogany and african mahogany are all marketed as mahogany but their properties can be quite different. This article is a one stop guide to provide some insights into the traditional classification of wood. This poster explains the difference between hardwoods and softwoods.

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. The poster can be enlarged to suit a variety of sizes. Here is a list of common hardwoods and softwoods used in the crafting of furniture. 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.

Softwoods aren t weaker than hardwoods. 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. 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. Hardwood is the wood of dicot angiosperms.

Softwoods come from coniferous trees such as cedar fir and pine and tend to be somewhat yellow or reddish. 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. Hardwoods angiosperms abachi triplochiton. Wood is soft and light with a fine texture.

A thorough understanding of how to distinguish hardwoods from softwoods is essential as you make your choices for the next project. Wood is hard and heavy with a rough texture. Due to the presence of vessels hardwood is also called as porous wood. This is the second poster on materials.

Types of softwood cedar cedar wood image. Unlike hardwoods softwoods do not have pores but instead contain linear tubes known as tracheids which supply nutrients for growth.