| s a large variety of wood that is available to the | | | | pieces of furniture such as cabinets and lounges. |
| woodworker. The woods used by the woodworker | | | | Mahogany |
| fall into three categories, being, softwoods, | | | | Mahogany is known for its distinctive coarse to |
| hardwoods and man-made woods. | | | | medium grain and reddish-brown color. However, as |
| Nature has produced thousands of natural woods | | | | Mahogany is very popular in furniture making it is hard |
| (these are the softwoods and hardwoods), however, | | | | to find and expensive. |
| there are only between 60 to 80 that are actually | | | | Softwoods |
| used by the woodworker. There are about half a | | | | Softwoods come from trees that usually 20 to 25 |
| dozen manufactured woods (man-made woods) that | | | | years old and as such are younger trees than |
| are used by the woodworker. | | | | hardwoods. Some of the popular softwoods are |
| The wood you choose to use will depend on the | | | | listed below: |
| texture you want, your budget, the availability of | | | | Pine |
| woods and the type of project. As there is such a | | | | There are a few different varieties of pine that are |
| variety of woods available you will always find the | | | | found around the world and most regions will have at |
| type of wood that you are looking for. Descriptions | | | | least one. Pine comes in a creamy yellow or clean |
| of the three categories of timber, softwoods, | | | | white color and is inexpensive, easy to use and in |
| hardwoods and man-made woods are contained | | | | plentiful supply. Pine has a fine to medium texture, is |
| below: | | | | straight grained and can be knotty. |
| Hardwoods | | | | Cedar |
| Hardwoods are available in a variety of textures and | | | | Cedar is a fine textured, straight grained timber that |
| colors and due to their variety are the preferred | | | | has a honey color and is known for its aromatic |
| wood used by woodworkers. Due to the large | | | | fragrance. Cedar of Lebanon is the most popular |
| variety of hardwoods available it is not possible to list | | | | species of cedar and is commonly used in cabinet |
| them all in this article, however, a few of the most | | | | making. |
| popular are: | | | | Man-made Woods |
| Beech | | | | Man-made woods have become increasingly |
| Beech has proved to be a very popular wood due to | | | | important with many natural woods now more |
| it being a light, strong and hard wood. Beech is a | | | | expensive and rare. Man-made woods are more |
| whitish colored wood and has a fine texture and is | | | | durable, cheaper and available than their natural wood |
| very easy to work with. The wood also glues easily | | | | equivalents. There are many different types of |
| and bends exceptionally well. | | | | man-made woods, including: |
| Oak | | | | Plywood |
| Of the different varieties of oak that are available | | | | Plywood is manufactured to have a high |
| the two most popular are the European variety | | | | strength-to-weight ratio and comes is a variety of |
| (yellow in color) and the American variety (pink to | | | | shapes, sizes and thickness. Plywood is manufactured |
| reddish in color). Oak is a sturdy and durable wood | | | | by laminating sheets of wood together with the |
| that has pronounced pores and is used for larger | | | | grains of the sheets being placed at right angles. |