Wood products are known for their natural beauty but when selecting a type of wood for your next cabinetry flooring furniture or millwork project it is important to also consider the level of durability by understanding the difference between wood types.
Man made soft and hardwoods.
A hardwood tree is often but not necessarily a harder and denser wood than a softwood.
When it comes to types of wood it can be divided into two major types softwood and hardwood.
Engineered wood also called mass timber composite wood man made wood or manufactured board includes a range of derivative wood products which are manufactured by binding or fixing the strands particles fibres or veneers or boards of wood together with adhesives or other methods of fixation to form composite material the panels vary in size but can range upwards of 64 by 8 feet 19 5.
Unlike hardwoods softwoods do not have pores but instead contain linear tubes known as tracheids which supply nutrients for growth.
The differences between hardwood and softwood lies in their origin physical structure quality and uses.
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.
Some thing softwoods are used to make include furniture fencing home decor and cabinets.
Types of wood comparing american hardwoods softwoods and tropical hardwoods.
Hardwoods and softwoods both have a wide array of applications in the wood products industry.
As a resource american hardwoods are abundant renewing and sustainable and an excellent choice for eco effective design and building.
Few people know why woods are split into these two categories however and they make the assumption that hardwoods are hard while softwoods are soft.
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.
Simply categorising hardwood as hard and softwood as soft is not the best approach.
The two wood types are actually distinguished botanically.
Balsa wood for example is classified as a hardwood despite the fact that it is very soft and light.
This guide features 20 of the most abundant and most often used hardwood species.
This distinction is incorrect.
The term comes from old logging camp rules of thumb where wood.