An Introduction to Hardwoods

Each type of hardwood offers different characteristics and traits. So, what type of wood is right for you? Below are descriptions for a number of hardwoods. This small introduction into the world of hardwoods will give you a general overview to assist you along the way to discovering your favorite woods.

Black Walnut

Scientific name: Juglans nigra - an exceptional hard wood scarcer than the Oak and a little more difficult to work with. But, very attractive when carefully finished. The swirls and curls of the grain around knots and other healed scars are amongst nature's best designs. During the creation process the artist tends to choose and shape the wood to accent such imperfections. The black walnut is one of our best known and most valuable trees. It is a large, straight-stemmed timber tree with an open crown. When grown in the open it is a short-trunked, low-branching, wide-spreading tree. Widely planted for its nuts, lumber and for ornamental purposes, it is found over the eastern United States as far west as Nebraska, Kansas and Texas. Growing chiefly along bottomlands, in coves and on lower slopes, it prefers a deep, rich, moist but well-drained soil. Many view Walnut as the finest wood in the world. Our forefathers sought it out and used it lavishly in their homes, barns and fences. The warm brown wood finishes beautifully. It is easy to work, yet durable. Butternut is a close relative.

Blood Wood

Exhibits a rich strawberry redish color, sometimes with golden yellow stripes; also called Satine. Hard and heavy and takes a high lustrous finish. Frequently used fine furniture, cabinets; found in Brazil, Venezuela, Peru, and Panama.

Bocote

Kingwood - From Brazil; Light to dark violet brown with lighter and darker stripes of purple. Also called Violetwood or Violete. Bright luster, fine texture and is very stable in service. Very hard and heavy. Takes a high natural polish and develops patina as it ages. Fairly rare.

Bois d'Arc

Pronounced as 'Bo-dark' this beautiful yellow wood was used by Native Americans for war clubs and bows. It is one of the hardest woods available - much harder than oak. It is from the Osage Orange tree and was the prime choice for hard wood flooring in the era of the old west. It can be difficult for the artist to work with, but the results are outstanding, especially when the design blends two woods.

Brazilian Cherry

The scientific name is Hymenaea Courbaril, also known as Jatoba, an exotic wood from South America. The colors range from medium brown to an amazing rich orange and red color, often with fine dark lines intermingled in the grain. It is harder and more durable then maple, thus is tough on the shaping tools of the artist, but well worth the work to bring out an incredible luster. Jatoba has a high quality, beautiful grain and is fast becoming a wood of choice when quality and beauty is required for fine furniture or other artistic products.

Bubinga

The tree is found in West Africa, exactly on the Equator - the scientific name is Guibourtia tessmannii. It is fine grained, hard and heavy. The wood is easy to work with and takes a high lustrous finish. The grain has mixed colors of fairly evenly spaced grains of light red, violent and purple stripes; sometimes random wavy squiggles appear in the heartwood which adds to the natural beauty. The tree reaches 100' with a normal girth of 3 feet.

Cherry

Scientific name - Prunus serotina of the family Rosaceae. The word prunus is the classical Latin name for the cherry tree. A hardwood, cherry has many subspecies that contain fruitwoods like plum and almond. Common names: American cherry, cabinet cherry, wild cherry, rum cherry. The sapwood may be light yellow or white or pinkish and is a fairly narrow band around the heartwood. The heartwood is salmon pink to brownish, sometimes with a greenish tinge, darkening upon exposure to a deep reddish brown with a golden luster. Cherry's color ages extremely well, deepening and taking on a rich shiny surface with age, particularly with exposure to sunlight. Relatively rare pieces will have red heartwood. The texture is close, firm, and uniform with a rich, satiny luster. Many uses: cabinetry, fine furniture (chests, bookcases, dining & coffee tables and accent pieces), musical instruments, gun stocks, tobacco pipes, and ship interiors.

Cocobolo

The heartwood of Cocobolo is a mix of brilliant colors ranging from deep reds to an attractive mix of streaks and markings of red, black, yellow and orange. It is very hard, tight grained and relatively heavy with high mechanical strength in all categories. Cocobolo can be sanded and rubbed to an extremely super smooth finish without application of finishing material. For the wood-turning artist, it is especially adaptable for many unique designs and shapes; pens, bowls, and atomizers all turn very well. Sources include the Tropic of Cancer, especially in Central America (Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, et al).

Ebony

From Sri Lanka, Asia and other parts of the world grows one of the heaviest, most expensive and blackest woods in existence. The trees are of the genus Diospyros. It is especially known as the hard black heartwood of E. ebenum or certain other species, used in cabinetwork and inlaying and for piano keys. It is the blackest wood in existence, although it can have subtle lighter colored streaks and in some cases can have as much contrast as its sister wood, Macassar Ebony, although that is rare. Generally it has uniformly black heartwood with yellowish sapwood. The grain is straight to slightly interlocked but usually indistinct due to extreme dark color…very dense, very hard wood that is very hard to work with hand or power tools, with severe blunting effect on cutters. In planning, a reduced angle of 20 degrees is required when irregular grain is present, with an increase in pressure bar and shoe pressures advised to prevent the wood from riding or chattering on cutters. Pre-boring is necessary for nailing and screwing. Tends to chip but turns well, takes glue well although some reports say it is difficult to glue. Very durable. Highly resistent to termites. Extremely resistent to preservative treatment.

Goncalo Alves

Botanical Name: Astronium fraxinifolium, Astronium graveolens. Goncalo alves is commonly called tigerwood which underscore the wood's often dramatic, contrasting color scheme; also called bois de zebre, kingwood (not real Kingwood) and South American Zorrowood, no doubt due to the Z's in it. The source tree belongs to the Sumac and Cashew family; close relatives are the tropical cashew, pepper trees, mangoes and pistachio trees. There are many sources: Central and Latin America; Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Guyana and Peru. Brazil is a major exporter of the wood. Heartwood hard and heavy to extremely so. Weight 53 to 80 lbs. per cu. ft. In appearance it is a cross between ebony and teak with broad black lines. Some novices mistake it for marble wood because it has that look. The wood is very strong and durable with excellent strength values The grain is fine, varying from straight to interlocked and wavy. The sapwood is very light, but the heartwood color ranges from light to orangish/reddish brown to deep mahogany red-brown. In some pieces the woodturning artist can bring out striking mixes created by beautiful, bold, brown to nearly black irregular markings or striping. A large degree of color change occurs over long exposure, with a pronounced darkening of the background under the stripes from an orangey tan to a deep reddish brown color, which then in turn makes the striping less contrasting and more subtle. Finishes smoothly. Takes a high natural polish. Figure very attractive. Special uses include: bowls and trays, knife handles, archery bows, billiard-cue butts, tool handles, jewelry boxes, and grand pianos.

Granadillo

(Platymiscium ulei) Granadillo is a dense hardwood from Mexico that has dark reddish brown to purple with dark lines. The tight grain pattern allows it to take a very smooth polish and work quite easily. It may exhibit variegated of reddish brown and slight yellowish-orange with dark stripes in the grain. Heights up to 80 feet. Boles are straight and clear up to 60 feet. Trunks can be as large as 42" in diameter and buttressed. Hard and heavy. Works and turns well. Finishes very smoothly. Oils in the wood produces a natural polish but may cause problems with lacquer or urethane finishes. It is primarily used in musical instruments, turning, handles, inlay, accessories.

Ipe

Pronounced 'eh`pee'. Common names are GreenHeart, Ironwood, Brazilian walnut. Found throughout the Caribbean Islands. Sapwood is whitish to yellowish, sharply demarcated from the heartwood which is olive brown, sometimes dark brown, sometimes with darker streaks. Heartwood sometimes has red and amber hues; color range is significant. Various reports say interlocked, straight, irregular, and tight. My own experience is that it is sometimes straight grained but more often interlocked, and in either case it is tight-grained. Grain is very dense, hard, heavy, strong, tough, resilient wood. IPE is heavier and two to three times harder than Oak. Sands very well for such a tough wood and sanding alone can produce a beautiful satin finish. Typical uses are: archery bows, bridges, cabinet work, civil constructions, decking, decorative veneers, dock work, exterior construction, factory flooring, fishing rods, flooring, heavy construction, industrial flooring, naval construction, railroad crossties, textile mill items, tool handles, turnery, veneers, walking sticks, window and door frames

Kauri

The prehistoric Kauri (pronounced Cow-ri) forests grew a million years ago on the north island of New Zealand. Over 50,000 years ago natural catastrophic happenings caused much of these forests to sink into peat bogs and swamps. There they became sealed in a chemically balanced environment, perfectly preserved just below the surface until discovered in the 1980s. We can only guess at the cause - perhaps it was an indirect effect of continental drift during the cretaceous period (65 million years ago) when Australia and New Zealand were still drifting away from Antarctica; perhaps it was a direct effect of the eruption of Toba, an active volcano in Sumatra (71,000 years ago) which caused extreme cold temperatures that lasted 1,000 years; perhaps it was a series of tsunamis occurring over time. The exact cause we will never know. But what we do know is that the trees that produced this wood were protected from the natural decaying process until discovered in perfect condition during the last quarter-century. Radio carbon dating places the age of the Ancient Kauri trees that are being excavated from the northland of New Zealand at between 30,000 and 50,000 years old. Because, 50,000 is the outer limit of radio carbon dating, it is quite possible the wood is even older!

Lacewood

Origintes in Europe, Australia and South America. One of Australia's finest contributions to the woodworking world, lacewood has an excellent figure that runs from big and bloppy to fine and lacy, (thus the name). Although not an oak, the lacewood has been given the name "Silk Oak," principally because of its astonishing resemblance to quartersawn red oak. It is a very distinctive wood.

Lignum Vitae

Due to the Self-lubricating Resin which grows naturally in the Lignum-Vitae and impregnates every pore, it is impossible for the lubricating resin to dry out through capillary action, as often happens in artificially impregnated self-lubricating materials. The scientific name is Bulnesia sarmientoi . It is known as the "Wood of Life" and it is the heaviest densest wood in the world. Beautiful black green and brown grain. Turns like plastic in the lathe. 80+lbs per cubic foot. The name "Lignum Vitae" means "Tree of Life" in Latin, it also called "Palo Santo" ("Saint Wood") in Argentina. Extremely hard and dense wood. Despite its density, cuts and polishes well due to the oils and resins it contains.

Mahogany

Caribbean mahogany (S. mahagoni). Mahogany trees can live 350 years and grow to 150 feet tall and 5 feet in diameter. It is a strong, hard wood with a red hue and fine grain pattern, making it ideal for use in furniture, doors, paneling, musical instrument and ships. Mahogany is the common name for the Meliaceae, a widely distributed family of chiefly tropical shrubs and trees, often having a pleasing scent. It is beautiful hard wood frequently used for interior trim in fine automobiles.

Manzanita

Arctostaphylos Species Manzanita. Variety: Cultivar. Manzanita can be used for turnings, bases for carvings, re-sawn as inlay material, or used as slabs for desk sets and clock bases. Manzanita often contain internal voids filled with dirt or small gravel. No two pieces are alike and because of the irregular shape and size. These natural root forms are hard and dense, with unbelievable grain and color below the gnarly exterior. Its random shape offers a most unusual item. Manzanita root burls contain beautiful and erratic grain patterns, and finish to a high sheen. The Manzanita Tree is the Real Manzanita, Arctostaphylos manzanita from northern California. Bark is red, leaves a grey-green, flowers are wonderful white clusters glistening in the morning sun. Ah, grows in red clay but most other soils will do. Associated plants were Chamise, Arctostaphylos myrtifolia, and Ceanothus tomentosus olivaceous. The manzanita is indigenous to arid areas in the Western United States.

Mesquite

A wood of many shades and uses. Best known use in Texas is for BBQ, but it also makes an excellent source for artistic creations. It is any of several small spiny trees or shrubs of the genus Prosopis in the pea family, native to hot, dry regions of the New World and important as plants for bees and forage for cattle. The P. glandulosa is native the southwest United States and northern Mexico. Also called honey mesquite, western honey mesquite. P. juliflora is native to the Gulf Coast and Caribbean islands from Mexico to Venezuela, it is also called algarroba.

Oak

The National Tree of the United States by Congressional edict. There is universal agreement that all oaks belong to the genus Quercus of the family Fagaceae. There are somewhere between 250 and 900 different subdivisions in the oak family. Red Oak, Live Oak, Water Oak, Black Oak, Black Jack, Post Oak, Willow Oak and others. The wood of the oak is seldom the same; when exposed to the preparation process its unpredictable density, color shades and muscle of grain. The most porous of the oaks is the red oak. The vessels of the wood are very large, thus the most porous.

Padauk

A hard wood from Southest Asia, prized by boat builders and cabinet makers for its reliable color patterns and overall deep grained beauty. The scientific name is Pterocarpus indicus. Many consider this a reddish wood, and it can exhibit a mottled or striped black grain.

Palm

Red Palm is usually from Burma (now Mynmar); 100 Longitude, 20 0 N Latitude; this is the Tropic of Cancer Zone. The features are a very distinguishing red striations., Heartwood is light yellow in color, Somewhat brittle and prone to splitting. Another variety is the black palm which exhibits dark striations.

Peruvian Nogal

Peruvian Walnut is dark brown with blackish streaks. Grain is straight to wavy. With careful sanding and polishing it takes on an elegant appearance characteristic of Black Walnut.

Pink Ivory

The scientific name is: Rhamnus zeyheri. It grows naturally in the Tropic of Capricorn and is known as the royal wood of the Zulus. The harvesting is controlled by tribal chieftains. When they want a new Rolls Royce they sell another tree. A very hard wood, the pinkish red-striped figure is produced by bands of wood tissue in the growth rings. Somewhat difficult to work with, it requires sharp tools and careful attention to detail, but the results are worth it.

Purpleheart

Purpleheart is one of the harder wood species from South America within the Tropic of Capricorn Zone. It is nearly identical in hardness to pecan or hickory. The heartwood, which is brown when freshly cut, changes to a deep, vibrant purple or purplish brown over time. Purpleheart is prized for its unique color and fine texture, thus is used in many specialty items, such as billiard cue butts, letter openers, collectible knife handles, pen and pencil sets. The grain is usually straight often with a fine curly figure; moderately hard to work but takes a glossy, lustrous finish; Lacquer will best preserve the color.

Tulip Wood

Heartwood is cream colored to salmon colored but dominated by stripes of red, violet, purple and rose --- generally the red streaking dominates. The sapwood is yellow to yellowish white. Heartwood color fades with age. This is a strikingly beautiful wood. A very popular hard wood, whose grain can be straight to wavy or highly figured roes. It is very stable and polishes to a beautiful natural luster. It has a distinct aroma --- a fragrant scent reminiscent of flowers when the wood is cut. Northeastern Brazil is the primary source; some also list Central and Latin America; Brazil, Colombia, Guyana and Venezuela. The wood was a favorite in French furniture in the Empire period but because of the small size and very high cost, its general use today is confined to hand-crafted products such as inlays, writing instruments and other small decorative fancy goods.

Zebra Wood

This wood originates in West Africa, primarily in the regions of Gabon and Cameroon. It is widely used for decorative purposes and veneers in areas where strength and mechanical properties are not critical since this wood is relatively durable and resistant to preservative treatment. The heartwood is a rich golden yellow with narrow, parallel dark brown veining producing a zebra-striped appearance. This interlocked grain alternates hard and soft and it is difficult to obtain a smooth finish from machines except as a veneer. Veneer is usually quartered and used for inlays, marquetry on cabinets, furniture and paneling.