| When looking at furniture, one often hears the | | | | the world such as Scotland, the Alps and Scandinavia. |
| expression "hardwood and softwood." Many people | | | | Examples are the ubiquitous pine, spruce - which is |
| do not understand the difference. This article will help | | | | often referred to a "whitewood" - red deal and scots |
| you to understand about timber choices which will | | | | pine. |
| help you gain more confidence when you next buy | | | | Many have been introduced into parts of England |
| furniture. | | | | instead of the native broad-leaved woodland. |
| What is hardwood? | | | | Softwoods also used are yew, larch, hemlock, |
| Hardwoods come from trees which bear fruit. Nuts | | | | redwood and cedar. |
| are also a type of fruit. Some examples are cherry, | | | | Are there any other differences? |
| hazel, apple and beech trees. Some them are | | | | One big aspect is the length of time it takes to grow |
| deciduous which means that they are broad-leaved | | | | to a full-sized tree which is ready to cut down to |
| and lose their leaves in winter, for example oak and | | | | make into furniture. Softwoods can achieve full size in |
| ash. Others are grown in tropical regions where there | | | | as little as 30 years. Deciduous hardwoods will take |
| are no winters, therefore they do not tend to have | | | | around 100 years to get to the same maturity - that |
| a leaf-fall as temperatures remain fairly constant | | | | is over three times as long. That explains why that |
| throughout the dry and wet seasons. Some | | | | lovely oak sideboard is so much more expensive than |
| hardwoods from these hot regions are mahogany, | | | | the same design in pine. Another aspect that affects |
| teak and sapele. | | | | the cost is how easy or difficult it is to "work" the |
| Hardwoods are often, but not always, harder than | | | | material. Harder timber takes more effort. I |
| softwoods. It is important to note that hardness is | | | | mentioned earlier that the hardness is not necessarily |
| not the defining factor though. This means that | | | | a reliable indicator and cited balsa as a very soft |
| balsawood, favoured by model-makers and so easily | | | | hardwood. One very hard softwood is parana pine. It |
| damaged with a fingernail, is a hardwood. Other | | | | is often found in Victorian and Edwardian homes in |
| examples of hardwoods are iroko, ebony, maple and | | | | solid wooden doors and is harder than many |
| walnut. | | | | hardwoods. |
| What is softwood? | | | | Armed with the knowledge in this article, you will |
| Softwoods come from trees which bear cones - in | | | | now be able to understand why certain types of |
| other words, conifers. They usually have needle-like | | | | timber cost more than others. |
| leaves and grow in the cooler temperate zones of | | | | |