HARDWOODS AND SOFTWOODS
Summary: Information on the characteristics of hardwoods and softwoods and what the main differences between the two are
There is great confusion about the terms hardwood and softwood. When talking about softwoods many people refer to Deal, Pine and Fir. Pine and Fir are indeed species of tree, but Deal is a technical term (now obsolete) for describing a size of softwood, or its origin.
Most softwood trees have spiky leaves and are coniferous (Larch is an exception, and deciduous) with branches forming in whorls (rings) of two or more at the same level.
The softwood most commonly used in the UK is from the tree Pinus Sylvestus and is known as Redwood. Other names include Red Deal, Yellow Deal, Archangel Fir, Swedish Pine and Scots Pine. Other softwoods in common use are Cedar, Western Red, Douglas Fir, Hemlock, Parana Pine, Pitch Pine, Quebec Yellow Pine, Western White Pine, Sitka and Spruce.
Hardwood Trees have broad, flat leaves and are deciduous (Yew and Holly being exceptions). Branches usually grow at different levels and never more than two at the same level. Unlike softwoods which are specifically grown and forested most hardwoods, especially tropical ones, occur at random and are naturally growing. This makes felling and collection difficult raising the prices considerably against softwood. This fact, and of course diminishing stocks, have led to greater interest in lesser known hardwoods such as Utile.
Other hardwoods commonly available in the UK include home grown or European English Oak, Beech, Ash, Elm, Sycamore, Birch and Walnut.
Because many of these woods have superb decorative value, they are often cut into thin veneers and used to face less expensive timbers. The images below may not be exactly the same colours as the original timbers.
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| African Mohogany | African Walnut | African WhiteWood | Afrormosia |
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| Agba | Austrailian Oak | Douglas Fir | Elm |
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| English Oak | European Ash | European Beech | European Larch |
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| European Redwood | European Whitewood | Idigbo | Iroko |
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| Jelutong | Kempas | Parana Pine | Poplar |
All project content written and produced by Mike Edwards
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