WELCOME TO OUR HARDWOODS & SOFTWOODS PROJECT
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Summary: Hardwoods & Softwoods.
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 |
Top Tools
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Forums
CUTTING & SAWING TIMBER
ENGINEERED HARDWOOD FLOORING
ENLARGING A LOFT HATCH
FEATHERING OUT
FENCING - CLOSE BOARD
FILLING GAPS IN FLOORBOARDS
FITTING A MORTICE, or MORTISE LATCH
FIXING TO HOLLOW DOORS
FLOOR SANDING
HANGING A DOOR
KNOCK DOWN JOINTS
LAMINATE FLOORING
LAYING FLOOR BOARDS
NOTCHING JOISTS - PIPES AND CABLES
Oak: Internal Doors
SANDING A TIMBER FLOOR
STAIRBUILDING
TREATING TIMBER DECKING
TREATING WOODEN WORKTOPS
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