What Are Some Common Hardwoods

The variety of colors textures and grain patterns makes for some beautiful and interesting looking furniture.

What are some common hardwoods.

Here is a quick leaf identification key of the common hardwoods in north america. Hardwoods normally have broad leaves and come from deciduous or broad leafed evergreen trees. The remaining 10 percent are softwoods. Hardwood trees lose their leaves each autumn.

Each species of hardwood has its own set of properties however they have some properties in common. Wood hardness varies among the hardwood species and some are actually softer than some softwoods. The actual number listed in the wood profile is the amount of pounds force lb f or newtons n required to imbed a 444 11 28 mm diameter steel ball into the wood to half the ball s diameter. Homing in on hardwoods.

The downside to hardwoods is their price. Common walnut juglans regia wenge millettia laurentii panga panga millettia stuhlmannii willow salix black willow salix nigra cricket bat willow salix alba caerulea white willow salix alba weeping willow salix babylonica zingana african zebrawood microberlinia brazzavillensis hardwoods. Most woodworkers love to work with hardwoods. Some may actually be softer than many coniferous softwoods.

As a resource american hardwoods are abundant renewing and sustainable and an excellent choice for eco effective design and building. Hardwood from deciduous species such as oak normally shows annual growth rings but these may be absent in some tropical hardwoods. In addition to the basics where they grow general description and abundance each hardwood profile includes working. Some hardwoods are excellent for carving.

Some of the more exotic species can be too expensive to use for anything more than an accent. Let s take a look at the most common angiosperms otherwise known as deciduous hardwoods. Evergreen softwoods grow faster than deciduous hardwoods and can grow to a larger size. Pennsylvania s forests grow some of the most valuable hardwoods in the world.

Hardwoods have a more complex structure than softwoods and are often much slower growing as a result. This guide features 20 of the most abundant and most often used hardwood species. The most common test for testing wood hardness is known as the janka hardness test. The dominant feature separating hardwoods from softwoods is the presence of pores or vessels.

Hardwoods grow slower than softwoods. About 90 percent of all the trees in pennsylvania s forests are hardwoods.