How do Hardwoods and
Softwoods differ?
They look different. Some
are smooth, some have bold grain and some have knots or bird eyes. They
finish differently. The density of the various woods change the depth
and tone of the color. The region where the furniture is made, the
style, and the historical period of the piece determine the wood used.
Hardwoods:
Hardwoods are
deciduous, the botanical group of trees that have broad leaves, produce
a fruit or nut, and generally go dormant in the winter. There are
hundreds of hardwood species in the United States. Together, all the
hardwood species represent 40 percent of the trees in the United States.
Softwoods:
In contrast, softwoods, or
conifers, from the Latin word meaning "cone-bearing," have needles.
Widely available softwoods include cedar, fir, hemlock, pine, redwood
and spruce.
The following is an
alphabetical listing of the most popular hard and soft woods.
Alder, a relative
of birch, grows from Alaska to Southern California. It ranks third
behind oak and pine as the wood most commonly used for ready-to
finish furniture.
Color: Very consistent in color - pale
pinkish-brown to almost white.
Grain: No distinct grain pattern
Characteristics:
Good working properties, moderately lightweight, low shock
resistance.
Finishing: Finishes smoothly and takes stain
well
There are several
species of American ash: black, brown, and white. Like most other
hardwoods the timber of the white ash is heavy, hard, strong and
durable. What sets ash apart and makes it valuable for many special
uses is its exceptional flexibility. Ash is among the most easily
steam-bent hardwood species. Early windmills were made form Ash. Ash
is also used extensively in the manufacture of sporting goods. We
all know that baseball bats are made from white ash. Ash is a
popular species for food containers because the wood has no taste.
Color: Nearly pure lustrous white, ranging through cream to very
light brown.
Grain: It has an attractive, straight,
moderately open, pronounced grain.
Characteristics: Heavy,
hard, strong and stiff excellent bending qualities.
Finishing:
Because of its large pores it is seldom painted but takes all other
finishes very well.
Both quaking and
big tooth aspen are readily available as lumber in the western U.S.
Because of it's neutral odor and taste, it is used for food
containers and other food industry needs. In recent years it has
become increasingly important in the manufacture of wood furniture.
Color: Very light and white in appearance.
Grain: Very even grained.
Finishing: Ideal for
non-penetrating finishes such as water based stains and paints.
Balau is a very
dense, oil-rich tropical hardwood from Southeast Asia. Balau’s
strength and weather resistance make it ideal for outdoor industrial
purposes like wharf construction, bridges, ship building and outdoor
furniture. Balau and Teak are both weather resistant tropical
hardwoods which make beautiful outdoor furniture. They both have
fine well oiled grains which weather over time. Their
differences lie in the density, color and cost. According to the
International Tropical Timber Organization, Balau is denser,
stronger and more durable than Teak. Balau has a warmer hue of
amber or deep honey.
Teak’s popularity soared throughout the
1990’s causing it to be over-harvested. Farmers saw the opportunity
to replace the trees, manage the crop and control the market. All
of this has contributed to raw Teak’s high cost. Balau, on the
other hand, is a plentiful tree, grown in managed forests and is
less than half the cost.
Balau and Teak are very fine grained
hardwoods resistant to weather, mildew, insects and mold. They can
be left outside through the summer and winter with very little care.
Balau and Teak start with a natural wood color and over time weather
to a classic soft grey patina. As it is left to weather the grain
will naturally swell and slightly rise.
Color:
warm wood
tones
Grain:
fine grained
hardwood
Characteristics:
strong and weather resistance
Finishing:
The original
warm wood tones can be maintained with annual cleaning and treatment
we recommend a water-based, solvent-free, eco-friendly protector.
Oils can provide a breeding ground for mold and bacteria and can
result in black rather than the natural wood color.
Related to the oak
and chestnut, beech is most common in the higher altitudes of the
Appalachian Mountain chain. Elegant and attractive, the American
beech is a medium tall tree with the smoothest of all bark. It
grows, naturally, along mountain slopes and rich uplands in nearly
pure stands. It tolerates shade well making it one of the forest
trees that can thrive beneath the canopy of taller species. American
beech is an important timber species. It is highly adaptable to
steam bending while retaining its strength. It is excellent for
woodturning, wears well and takes preservatives well. Because
beechwood becomes slick with wear, it is perfect for drawer sides
and runners. Because it bends well, it is used in bent wood chairs
and other bent wood furniture. It does not impart flavor, odor or
color to food so it is good for food utensils and containers.
Color: Wood ranges from nearly white to deep red brown.
Grain: Close and straight grained, with little figure and a
uniform texture, identified by its dark pores in conspicuous rays.
Characteristics: Hard and strong. Good resistance to abrasive
wear.
Finishing: Easy to paint, stain or bleach.
Yellow birch is a
deciduous hardwood which grows principally in the upland, hilly
terrain of the Northeastern and Lake States forests: There are nine
species of birch native to North America, including the very
distinctive and familiar white trunked paper birch. But the species
named yellow birch is the most common and important commercial
lumber birch. It is identified by its bright, yellowish bronze
colored bark that peels in long, thin horizontal strips.
Color: Cream or lightly tinged with red.
Grain: Fine
grained (often curly or wavy).
Characteristics: Heavy, strong, hard, and even-textured.
Finishing: Birch takes paints and stains well.
Like all fruit
trees, cherry belongs to the rose family and was used as early as
400 B.C. by the Greeks and Romans for furniture making. Cherry
helped define American traditional design because Colonial
cabinetmakers recognized its superior woodworking qualities. Today,
cherry helps define Shaker, Mission and country styling. The wood
from the cherry tree can be described in a single word: beautiful.
Its rich red-brown color deepens with age. Small dark gum flecks add
to its interest. Distinctive, unique figures and grains are brought
out through quarter sawing. It has an exceptionally lustrous
appearance that glows. The finish is satiny to the touch
Color: Rich, reddish-brown. Cherry darkens considerably with age
and exposure to sunlight.
Grain: Straight-grained and
satiny. Small gum pockets produce distinctive markings.
Characteristics: Light, strong, stiff and rather hard. Cherry's
grain is more subdued than some other hardwood species, with very
interesting character.
Finishing: Cherry is unsurpassed in
its finishing qualities-its uniform texture takes a finish very
well.
The eucalyptus genus
represents more than 300 species. They have been successfully
planted in South America, South Africa, Europe and the United
States.
Color: It is pinkish-brown in color and turns to a
reddish-brown with age and exposure to light.
Characteristics: Its' resistance to decay is relative to
teak. Eucalyptus is a heavy hardwood that earns high marks for
strength.
Eucalyptus is a renewable resource with high
productivity in relatively short harvest rotations. The wood in
these products comes from well managed forests, independently
certified in accordance with the rules of the Forest Stewardship
Council (FSC).
A Native American
tree, hickories are members of the walnut family. Hickory is the
hardest, heaviest and strongest American wood in common use.
Westward trekking pioneers allegedly made hickory a prerequisite for
their wagon wheels.
Color: White to tan to reddish-brown
with inconspicuous fine brown lines.
Grain: Fine grain.
Characteristics: Extremely tough and resilient, even texture,
quite hard and only moderately heavy.
Finishing: The grain
pattern welcomes a full range of medium-to-dark finishes and
bleaching treatments.
The heavyweight of
all woods, mahogany is one of the most valuable timber trees.
Popular in the '50's, mahogany is making a comeback due to the new
attraction to the "red" woods. On an interesting note, new model
automobiles were originally carved, full sized, entirely out of
mahogany! Each piece, no matter how big or small, from the front
bumper, to the engine, the dashboard, the drive shaft, back to the
lock on the trunk is first fashioned from this very stable hard
wood.
Color: Varies from light red or pale tan to a rich
dark deep red or deep golden brown, depending on country of origin.
Grain: It is generally straight grained but is prized for its
figures which include stripe, roe, curly, blister, fiddleback, and
mottle.
Characteristics: Extremely strong, hard, stable
and decay resistant
Finishing: Finishes and stains to a beautiful natural luster.
The American
species of maple are divided into two groups: Hard maple, which
includes sugar and black maple; and soft maple, which includes red
and silver maple. Until the turn of the century, the heels of
women's shoes were made from maple, as were airplane propellers in
the 1920s. Maple has been a favorite of American furniture makers
since early Colonial days. Hard maple is the standard wood for
cutting boards because it imparts no taste to food and holds up
well.
Color: Cream to light reddish-brown.
Grain:
Usually straight-grained and sometimes found with highly figured
bird's-eye or burl grain. Bird's-eye resembles small circular or
elliptical figures. Clusters of round curls are known as burl.
Characteristics: Heavy, hard, strong, tough, stiff,
close-grained and possesses a uniform texture. Maple has excellent
resistance to abrasion and indentation, making it ideal flooring as
well as cutting boards and countertops.
Finishing:
Takes stain satisfactorily and polishes well.
The oaks-red and
white-are the most abundant U.S. hardwood species. It would be
difficult to name a wood with a longer and more illustrious history
in furnishings and interior design. Oak was a favorite of early
English craftsmen and a prized material for American Colonists.
White oak is just one of 86 oak species native to this country, but
it is the classic oak of America. Although prevalent throughout the
eastern half of the United States, from Maine to Texas, white oak
lumber comes chiefly from the South, South Atlantic and Central
States, including the southern Appalachians.
Red oak grows only in
North America and is found further north than any other oak species.
A big, slow growing tree, red oak takes 20 years to mature and lives
an average of 300 years.
Color:
White Oak- ranges from nearly white sapwood to a darker gray brown
heartwood, Red Oak-ranges from nearly white cream color to a
beautiful warm, pale brown heartwood, tinted with red.
Grain:
The grain is distinguished by rays, which reflect light and add to
its attractiveness. Depending on the way the logs are sawn into
timber (rift-cut, flat sliced, flat sawn, rotary cut, quartered),
many distinctive and sought after patterns emerge: flake figures,
pin stripes, fine lines, leafy grains and watery figures.
Characteristics: Heavy, very strong and very hard, stiff,
durable under exposure, great wear-resistance, holds nails and
screws well.
Uses: Flooring, furniture, cabinets, ships
and decorative woodwork.
Finishing: Oaks can be stained beautifully with a wide range
of finish tones.
Parawood is A
Native tree of the Amazon Region of South America. Information about
Parawood can be traced back to Christopher Columbus. It was during
his second visit to South America, that he wondered at the heavy
black ball the natives were using in games. This black ball was made
from the vegetable gum of the Parawood tree. Later historians would
also marvel at this substance, which bounced so much when thrown to
the ground it appeared to be alive. In the 19th century an
Englishman named Henry Wickham transported some seeds to England for
germination. The seeds germinated and these small seedlings were
then transported to the Malay Peninsula for planting; there to start
the Great Rubber Plantations of Malaysia. After 25 to 30 years of
latex production, tapped in the same manner syrup is tapped from the
Maple trees, the tree ceases to produce sufficient quantities of
latex. The tree is cut for processing in the manufacture of fine
furniture and a new tree is planted in its place.
Color:
Pale yellow.
Grain: Open grain similar to mahogany.
Characteristics: A very hard wood.
Finishing: Takes
a very even stain.
Radiata Pine is a
plantation-grown wood from South America and New Zealand that is
harder than other pines and has fewer knots.
Color: Pale
cream color.
Grain: Has a distinctive grain pattern.
Finishing:
Takes most finishes well.
Southern Yellow
Pine is actually a species group that is made up of primarily four
trees: loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), long leaf pine (Pinus
palustris), shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata) and slash pine (Pinus
eliottii) Loblolly Pine is the most important and predominant of the
four. It grows throughout the Atlantic Coastal Plain, often in
commercial stands, from Maryland south through all the Carolinas and
Georgia into Florida, and westward to East Texas. It is classified
as a hard pine and is harder than white pine.
Color: Warm
pale yellow with brown knots.
Grain: Distinctive light and dark grain pattern.
Finishing: Pine takes most finishes well. With some stains, a
sealer helps prepare the wood to achieve a more even look.
Found in the
uplands of Newfoundland, Ontario and Manitoba in Canada, south
throughout New England and the Great Lakes Region to South Carolina
White Pine is the state tree of Maine and Michigan. A very large
tree with relatively few horizontal big limbs, the Eastern white
pine is one of the tallest timber trees in the Northeast.
Color:
white to pale yellow with a reddish tinge. It darkens with age and
air exposure, eventually turning to a deep orange color.
Grain: The wood is light, soft, straight grained and with very
uniform texture.
Characteristics: It works very well and
is easily shaped with hand and power tools. This wood accepts many
types of glue well, making for tight bonding.
Finishing:
Pine takes most finishes well. With some stains, a sealer helps
prepare the wood to achieve a more even look.
Also known as
yellow poplar, tulip poplar, tulipwood and hickory poplar, -poplar
trees grow taller than any other U.S. hardwood species. The yellow
poplar grows quickly into a tall straight tree. It is found alone in
open, rich, moist soil. Because of its fast maturity the lumber from
poplar is lightweight and soft for a hardwood. But it is strong,
durable and seasons well resisting warping once it is dried. Because
the trunk has no limbs or branches, except at the very top, the wood
has no knots.
Color: White to yellowish cast, sometimes
with slightly greenish cast and occasionally with dark purplish
streaks.
Grain:. It is straight grained and evenly
textured.
Characteristics: Comparatively uniform texture, light to
medium weight, excellent strength, and stability. . It cuts and
sands well, keeps its' edge and resists splitting.
Finishing:
The wood stains well and can easily be made to resemble walnut or
maple. Because it takes paint exceptionally well, it is often
painted.
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