Hardwoods.

 

WHAT ARE HARDWOODS?:

Hardwoods are timber from decideous and evergreen broad leaves trees. Decideous means that a tree will shed its leaves at a certain period while evergreen trees have leaves throughout the year. Hardwoods are not necessarily harder in density than softwoods.

WALNUT EUROPEAN:
is a highly decorative wood.
is one of the most desirable veneer.
has a rich grain and natural colour variation.
has excellent steam-bending properties.
polishes to a high finish.
can be found in Europe, Asia Minor and South West Asia.
is used for decorative veneers, gun and rifles stocks, furniture, car interiors, interior joinery and shop fttings.

european walnut

american black walnut.

 

BEECH:

is one of the most widely used wood in the UK.
is strong and elastic.
is easily worked.
finishes well.
has a consistent straight grain.
has excellent steam-bending properties.
is found in Central Europe and West Asia.
is used to make tool handles, toys, furniture, cabinet making, brush handles, sports goods, turned products, kitchen utensils, parts of musical instruments and shoe trees.

 

SYCAMORE:

has a milky-white mottled colour.
is usually straight-grained.
can be curly or wavy.
is good for turning.
has very low stiffness properties.
has good steam-bending properties.
is found in Europe and Western Asia.
is used for kitchen utensils, butchers 'tools and tables, flooring, turnery and violin backs.

sycamore

Sycamore carved jar

 

MAPLE:
is a creamy-white wood.
is extremely hard.
has a high resistance to abrasion and wear.
is difficult to work.
is good for steam-bending.
has a reasonable staining and finish quality.
has a fine and even texture.
is a medium density wood.
is usually straight-grained.
needs to be pre-bored for nailing and screwing.
is found in Europe, the USA and Canada.
is used for flooring, squash courts, bowling alleys, roller-skating rinks, furniture, turned articles, maple syrup derivative and rollers in textile production.

Maple wood bracelet

ASH:

is one of the toughest English timbers.
is very flexible.
is an excellent shock absorbing wood.
is straight-grained.
has a coarse texture.
has excellent workability when steamed.
is found in America, Canada, Europe and Japan.

is used for railway coach vehicle construction, hockey sticks, snooker cues, cricket stumps, gym equipment, tools handles (hammers, shovels, axes, oars), early cars and aircraft.

European Ash

American Ash

 

CHERRY:

has an interesting reddish golden colour.
has good bending and working properties.
has a similar strength to oak.
is excellent for turning.
is generally straight.
has fine and even textured grain.
is found in Europe, North Africa and West Asia.
is used to make furniture, tableware and musical instrument parts.

european cherry.

OAK:

has a rich historical association with English furniture.
is not well suited for outdoor products.
has a coarse texture.
is straight.
has a rich grain.
has a good workability and good finishing.
has a good resistance to water.
is excellent for steam bending.
comes from Europe, Asia Minor and North Africa.Oak is used to make furniture, floors, boats, wine and whiskey barrels, doors and frames, panels and carving.

american red oak

japanese oak.

TEAK:

has a natural weatherability because it contains natural oils that clogs its pores and render it maintenance free.
is hard.
is a wood for outdoors.
might not be so politically correct to use since most teak comes from colonial plantations in Java.
has a medium density.
offers good stem bending properties.
has a good resistance to chemicals.
is moderately easy to work.
is found in India, South East Asia, West Africa and the Caribbeans.
is used to build ships, for cabinet making, garden furniturem chemical containers and decking.



Teak flooring

teak wood stool java, indonesia.

POPLAR:
 has a pale colour.
 is tough.
 has a good resistance to splintering.
 is a straight but wholly -grained wood.
 has a good workability.
 is poor for steam-bending.
 comes from Europe, the USA, Canada.
 is used to make matches, interior joinery, toys, break blocks for railway wagons, boxes and crates.





Poplar bracelet


Poplar wardrobe


WILLOW:
is an ideal wood for weaving.
does not splinter easily because it possesses long soft fibres.
is straight and fine grained.
is lightweight.
is flexible.
is easy to work with.
is resilient.
is poor for steam-bending.
is found in Europe, West Afsia, USA, North Africa.
is used to make cricket bats, wickerwork, crates, clogs, floors and is used for veneers.

willow

Willow Wooden Shoes

boat.

BALSA:
is lightweight.
has a low density.
has excellent floating properties.
has the highest strenght to weight ratio of all the woods.
absorbs shocks and vibrations.
is easy to cut , glue and extremely easy to work with.
is poor for steam-bending.
is found in Central and South America.
is used to make model aircrafts, speedboats, insulation( heat, sound and vibration), buoyancy in life belts and water sport equipments, theatre props.

balsa wood

balsa structure

JELUTONG:

is a straight grained wood.
has a fine and even texture.
has a medium density.
has low stiffness.
is very easy to work with.
has good finishing properties.
is used in pattern making, model making, drawing boards, wood carving, clogs, interior joinery and latex for chewing gum.
is found in Malaysia and Indonesia.






Mural in Jelutong



Carved Jelutong

HICKORY:
has high density.
is straight grained.
has a coarse texture.
has high strength bending properties.
has high shock resistance properties.
is excellent for steam bending.
is non durable.
is difficult to work with.
is found in Eastern USA and South Eastern Canada.
is used to make tool handles, baseball bats, ladder rungs, drum sticks.




Hickory flooring

Becknell Kitchen.

Hickory kitchen cabinets



Hickory hammer handle.

PEAR:
is smooth and has an even finish.
is pale.
is excellent for turning.
has a good ability to take staining.
is straight grained.
has a fine even texture.
is not suitable for steam bending.
is found in Europe and West Asia.
is used to make musical and drawing instruments, umbrallas and quartered veneers.






Pear wood knife handle


Pear wood bowl

 

LIGNUM VITAE:

 

 

is tough.

is self lubricating

is an exceptionally dense wood.

is the only wood that sinks in water.

is good for turning.

has an excellent durability.

is very difficult to work with.

is poor for steam bending.

has a high resistance to chemicals.

is found in Central America and the West Indies.

is used to make mallet heads, wooden bowls, wheel guides, pestles and mortars. early clock mechanisms, hammer heads, pulley sheaths for ships.

lignum Vitae

LignumVitae vase.

Lignum Vitae coffee grinder

LIME:

has an excellent resistance to splitting.
is easy to work with.
has a low stiffness.
has a straight, uniform and fine textured grain.
has a pale, creamy , yellow colour.
is easily stained.
is found in Europe.
is used to make cutting boards, leatherwork, patterns for pattern making, turned products, hat blocks, artificial limbs and carvings.

lime

Limewood Kiosk

Knife block