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NCSU Inside Wood project; Reproduction of The American Woods: exhibited by actual specimens and with copious explanatory text by Romeyn B. Hough; US Forest Products Laboratory, "Characteristics and Availability of Commercially Important Wood" from the Wood Handbook Archived 2021-01-18 at the Wayback Machine PDF 916K; International Wood ...
The hardest hardwoods are much harder than any softwood, [4] but in both groups there is enormous variation with the range of wood hardness of the two groups overlapping. For example, balsa wood, which is a hardwood, is softer than most softwoods, whereas the longleaf pine, Douglas fir, and yew softwoods are much harder than several hardwoods.
Hardwood from deciduous species, such as oak, normally shows annual growth rings, but these may be absent in some tropical hardwoods. [3] Hardwoods have a more complex structure than softwoods and are often much slower growing as a result. The dominant feature separating "hardwoods" from softwoods is the presence of pores, or vessels. [4]
It is common to classify wood as either softwood or hardwood. The wood from conifers (e.g. pine) is called softwood, and the wood from dicotyledons (usually broad-leaved trees, e.g. oak) is called hardwood. These names are a bit misleading, as hardwoods are not necessarily hard, and softwoods are not necessarily soft.
Wood from an angiosperm tree, i.e. a tree in the division Magnoliophyta that bears flowers and fruits. Despite the name, hardwood is not necessarily hard or dense (e.g. balsa is a hardwood), although it is generally harder than most softwoods. heart shake A shake (i.e. crack or split) radiating out from the heartwood. heel
Rough lumber is the raw material for furniture-making, and manufacture of other items requiring cutting and shaping. It is available in many species, including hardwoods and softwoods, such as white pine and red pine, because of their low cost. [1]
Softwoods usually have a lower density, around 432–592 kg/m 3, which can compromise its strength. [10] Density, however, does vary within both softwoods and hardwoods depending on the wood's geographical origin and growth rate. However, the lower density of softwoods also allows it to have a greater strength with lighter weight.
Softwoods exhibit a simpler basic wood structure, characterized by only two cell types and limited variation within these categories. In contrast, hardwoods display increased structural complexity owing to a higher number of fundamental cell types and a considerable degree of variability within these cell types.