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Different Types of Wood

With so many different types of wood available to the woodworker where do you start?

Author: Eric Poirier, Bell Forest Products

What does every woodworking project have in common? Wood! With so many different types of wood available, where does one begin? Unfortunately, there is no such thing as the "perfect" species for every application. However, mother nature did create enough variety to satisfy every project you could possibly imagine. There are over 100,000 species on the planet, so remember to choose wisely!

We can begin to narrow down the 100,000 species by separating them into two main categories. Hardwoods and softwoods. Hardwoods are broad-leaved trees that have enclosed nuts or seeds. Softwoods are coniferous, needle-bearing trees. Don't get confused by the names. Hardwoods are not always hard and softwoods are not always soft. These different types of wood have a multitude of uses, and are often interchangeable in many projects.

One way to start is by choosing the right wood to match a certain project. Different types of wood have different characteristics. If you are building an outdoor deck, don't choose Maple, Birch, or Canarywood as a building material. These species have very poor resistance to natural decay. Instead, choose something such as Ipe, Cumaru, or Cedar. For your next pool cue, don't try to save money by using a 2" x 2" piece of spruce from Home Depot for the handle! That job requires a good piece of Hard maple, Jatoba, or laminated stock. If your project calls for bending wood, do not try Ebony, Mahogany, or Walnut. In this case you would be much better off using Oak, Teak, or Spruce.

A completely different way to look at things is to choose a wood based on aesthetics. There are different types of wood to match everyone's fancy. You can choose wood based on figure, color, grain, or texture. Figure can range from Birdseye and Curly to Quilted and Burl. If you happen to like different colors, everything you can imagine is available from white (Holly) to black (Ebony) and red (Bloodwood) to green (Lignum Vitae.) Do you like unique grain? Try on some Zebrawood, Rosewood, or even a nice Black Walnut crotch. As far as texture, some like it rough and some don't. Leopardwood, Oak, and Wenge have large, open pores, whereas Ebony, Cocobolo, and Hard maple have a very fine texture, making the boards feel smooth to the touch.

The best suggestion I can give is learn, learn, learn. Learn all you can about the properties of wood. Buy books and read them. Do research on the Internet. Ask questions on forums. Buy different types of wood and use them for different projects. Choose the species you like, as long as they work for your application. And always remember, the correct choice of material could mean the difference between your next family heirloom or a pile of firewood!