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DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HARDWOOD & SOFTWOOD LUMBER
Almost daily I get asked what is the BEST wood to use in a particular application and I invariably answer with, "Well it depends!"
After being a women, woodworking both professionally and personally for the last 25 years, I've learnt that there is never a single perfect choice. You must consider the application, your skill and personal preferences, as well as access to tools and wood options.
But to keep this conversation simple lets just consider first the difference between hardwood and softwood lumber.
Hardwood and Softwood Definitions.
Here's the most basic definition, although there are a few exceptions.
Hardwoods: All trees that lose their leaves in the fall are considered a hardwood.
Softwoods: All trees that keep their leaves all year like for instance a white pine tree that has needles rather than leaves.
This will surprise most! Typically consumers believe that hardwoods are "Hard" and softwoods are "Soft". This is far from the truth.
Softwood v.s. Hardwood
Basswood is the wood of choice for passionate wood carvers BECAUSE it is soft and easy to work with. It is technically a hardwood though, as is sugar maple that we harvest to produce our breakfast syrup as well as the cutting boards we abuse to prepare the rest of the day's meals. Sugar maple or "hard" maple is truly a HARD wood, basswood many would think NOT, but both are classified as 'hardwood' lumber.
This is true of balsa wood as well. It is sourced as the lightest wood on the planet and used in model airplanes for just that reason. When all the water is removed in the drying process the tree is week and barely able to stand, but yes it is a hardwood as well from the remote island of Ecuador.
Hemlock on the other hand, is a "needled" tree and thus technically a SOFT wood, but farmers source it out for horse corals and exterior fencing, because it is one of the woods that the horses can't chew through.
Thus it is important to understand that basic hardwood and softwood definitions do in no way indicate a wood's hardness but rather a characteristic of its growth. Hardwoods are deciduous and lose their leaves every year as the temperatures drop. Softwoods are conifers and typically keep their needles all year round..
Studying their growth cycles doesn't really help us. Understanding the difference between hardwood and softwood lumber also doesn't really help us, at least as far as selecting an appropriate wood for a particular project.
There are much more important wood attributes that you might want to consider.
- rot and water resistance
- hardness (as in the real hardness of the wood)
- bendability (think of the hoops on shaker style chairs)
- stainability
- beauty and availability and maybe price!
.. so keep reading and we'll try to introduce you to some of the characteristics that might be more relevant to the selection process in finding the right wood for your woodworking project. The difference between hardwood & softwood isn't really a basis on which to decide.
If you are interesting in knowing how the industry scales and grades lumber sign up for this free wood working training online, to get access to a class that includes a video on using a scaling ruler, a basic primer on wood grading and a 'how-to' on doing the math to figure out how much wood you might need for your next woodworking project.
More Information
Here's the master index of all the articles onsite about wood moisture levels, toxicity, scaling and grading to help you learn about the raw material you so passionately craft into all sorts of projects, enjoy...
