What exactly is "hard wood" or "hardwood"?

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
Please, forgive what is a very basic question for most of y'all I'm sure.

I see references all the time to using "hard wood".
I can tell the obvious - like Oak, Walnut, Cherry etc. - as being "hard" and Pine as being "soft".

Some leave me a little confused though. I picked up a couple of sheets of Luan 2 weeks ago. It seems a little on the "soft" side to me. I can press my thumbnail into it and it will leave a distinct impression. Not quite as bad as pine, but it still seems soft.
As I was moving them around the garage yesterday, I noticed the sticker said "Hardwood - Luan Ply".

Maple and Birch also befuddle me somewhat.
I'd thought all Maple was "hard". Then I ran across a few threads referring to "soft maple".:confused:

Then there's Birch. Is all Birch, Baltic Birch? or is Baltic Birch some species? is all Birch hard?

Then there's Pine?
I thought Pine was "soft". Then I heard a reference on - I believe it was an episode of this Old House - where they referred to a Long Leaf Pine floor as being "hard".

[Mack Cameron]

Hi Rich; with respect to your "hard wood" question; deciduous trees (lose leaves in winter) are hard wood trees, ex. maple, birch, oak etc.; coniferous trees (retain leaves in winter) are soft wood trees, ex. pine, cedar, spruce etc.

Some hard woods are softer than other hard woods; and some soft woods are harder than other soft woods.

[Doug Shepard]

It makes no real sense at all and has nothing to do with how hard or soft it is. But softwoods are those from needle type leaves (pine,fir,spruce) and hardwood is everything else.

[Tom Young]

Rich,

Check out this book. I think it will answer all your questions and give you a greater understanding about how wood "works". "Understanding Wood: A Craftsman's Guide to Wood Technology" by R. Bruce Hoadley. ISBN-10: 1561583588.

Tom

[Jeffrey Schronce]

Here is a definative answer the actual hardness of each species.

http://www.sizes.com/units/janka.htm

Plywood is a whole different story. The woods used for the interior plys is a low grade inexpensive wood. The veneer that is applied is very thin thus adding practically nothing to the hardness of the sheet good. However, plywood with a thin little layer of walnut, cherry, etc on the face will be called "Hardwood Plywood" to indicate the hardwood (and premium) wood on the face.

Birch is a type of wood. There is domestic birch and imported birch. When you are referring to Baltic Birch you are speaking of a high quality, well made multilayer plywood which comes from Euro countries, ie Russia and the Baltic regions. This plywood is very stabil and excels at strength since it uses more layers of plywood which has few to no voids in the plywood layers (ie no missing areas typical of most inexpensive plywood). Baltic birch is often used in cabinet making for carcases and jig making due to its stability and superior screw holding ability. Its nice stuff to work with. Naturally it is more expensive than luan plywood you pick up at HD or Lowes.

[Tom Veatch]

...
Some hard woods are softer than other hard woods; and some soft woods are harder than other soft woods.

And some hardwoods are softer than some softwoods. An extreme example is Balsa, ochroma lagopus. Since balsa is a deciduous tree, it falls into the "hardwood" category. The "hardwood"/"softwood" designations don't really correspond to the hardness or softness of the woods other than most "hardwoods" are harder than most "softwoods".

[glenn bradley]

Mack C has a great answer. The 'name' hard or soft is sometimes but not always descriptive of the material. Try soft maple for example. Tom also sites my favorite contridiction - balsa.

[Ed Falis]

If I remember from "Understanding Wood" rightly, the classification of hard or soft is based on the cell structure of the woods (which corresponds closely to deciduous and evergreen trees). But I could be wrong - go with the book as suggested earlier.

[Jim Becker]

To add to your confusion...Balsa is a hardwood... :)

In general, the deciduous vs evergreen is a reasonable rule of thumb for hardwood and softwood, respectively...and as others have stated.

[Bill Huber]

Here is a definative answer the actual hardness of each species.

http://www.sizes.com/units/janka.htm




Jeffrey, that is a great link, thanks....

[Dave MacArthur]

Great link, enjoyed reading it!
However, I couldn't find the #1 wood I was interested in, "yellow pine". I have been reading recently here on SMC various threads on using yellow pine for workbenchs, etc., that indicate this is a very hard wood compared to most conifers, and I was hoping to see how it stacked up against other woods such as beech, maple, etc.

[Mack Cameron]

Hi Dave; this link will provide you with the hardness characteristics of a great many woods.http://www.sizes.com/units/janka.htm

I note beech to be 1300, maple depending on the species runs anywhere from 700 - 1450.

There are so many species (scientic name) of pine, I don't see specifically yellow. You have to know it's exact species name, but pine ranges from 380 - 910.

[Jeff Raymond]

"Soft Maple" is referred to also as 'swamp maple.' It is a tree which grows in very moist areas very quickly and it has a greyish look to it. Technically the acer family, birch/maple are considered to be hardwoods, but swamp maple is generally much 'softer' with a quite different look than what we consider to be 'hard' maple.

Kick around a local sawmill and you'll see the difference.

For the really fussy cabinetmaker, you'll see buyers who will look for trees grown on a certain side of a mountain as they have different figuring. In the old days, they used to throw away curly/tiger maple because it was too hard to work by hand and was different than the straight-grained maple they expected to see.

Microscopically, birch and maple are about the same; Hardwoods.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
Interesting info.
Thanks!
It helps clear up a lot.

[Pat Germain]

Wow, yet another interesting revelation on SawMill Creek. Thank you, gentlemen (and ladies, as I'm sure a few will also chime in). I didn't know the difference between hard wood and soft wood had more to do with species than actual hardness.

Thanks to SMC, I'm becoming less and less of a biscuit. You know, I think the home, hobbyist woodworker was in danger of becoming an extinct species. Although woodworking shows like NYW helped inspire of lot of folks, I find most actually know very little about woodworking. I say this because I know so little, yet I know more than almost every other hobbyist woodworker I talk to. Web sites like SMC are helping to spread the knowledge in "The Way of the Woodworker".

Thanks again, everyone.

[Richard M. Wolfe]

Not to hijack the thread, but the yellow pine generally thought of as construction lumber (SYP, or southern yellow pine) is not a species but a category of pine. SYP is a grouping of pines with by far the most dominant species being loblolly and slash pine.

[Pat Germain]

So, what's the stuff the big box stores refer to as "whitewood"? Is it whatever happens to be available for a low price at the time?

[Jake Helmboldt]

For clarification, maple and birch are two separate families (aceraceae and betulaceae respectively), and the maples and birches are then in their respective genus, acer and betula.

Common names then also lead to confusion since a common name in one place will be the common name in another place for a different species.

Examples:

swamp maple, typically refers to red maple (acer rubrum) and is frequently called "soft maple" by woodworkers, but silver maple is also called soft maple as a common name (and it too is a "soft maple" in terms of woodworking).

"Hard maple" is typically either sugar maple (acer sacharum) or black maple (acer nigrum).

River birch and water birch are both often called red birch and black birch while gray birch and paper birch are also commonly called white birch.

Usually all of this detail doesn't matter, but it can lead to extra confusion when people start talking about the woods they use and someone else thinks they are talking about a slightly different species, which is some cases can be a very different wood when it comes to woodworking.:eek:

[Jeff Raymond]

To further confuse the issue..in Florida they have a tree called a Live Oak. Actually it is a conifer, but try working with it. It is as hard as a rock and will dull your best tools.

I've worked with some very old virgin pine from the Nantucket light house, probably a coupla hundred years old. Heavy, hard as a rock and sticky stuff. My shop smelled like Pine-Sol for weeks after completing the task (and cleaning every tool that worked it).

Also, cherry is considered to be a 'hardwood,' but that's a relative term as some cherry is pretty 'soft,' to the touch, especially with machine work.

So there you go.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hardwoods are Angiosperms (Seeds are enclosed such as in fruits or nuts), while softwoods are Gymnosperms (Seeds are in contact with the atmosphere).

Nothing to do with relative hardness, and the loss of leaves over the winter doesn't apply to all types of Angiosperms.

Regards, Rod.

[Steve Milito]

To further confuse the issue..in Florida they have a tree called a Live Oak. Actually it is a conifer, but try working with it. It is as hard as a rock and will dull your best tools.

I've worked with some very old virgin pine from the Nantucket light house, probably a coupla hundred years old. Heavy, hard as a rock and sticky stuff. My shop smelled like Pine-Sol for weeks after completing the task (and cleaning every tool that worked it).

Also, cherry is considered to be a 'hardwood,' but that's a relative term as some cherry is pretty 'soft,' to the touch, especially with machine work.

So there you go.

Live oaks are not conifers. They are evergreen Oak trees, and are in the same genus as Oak trees that lose their leaves in winter. Thus, it's a hardwood.