Woodworking: Knowing the Types of Wood

When working with wood there are too many options of what type of wood you can use. Depending on the application is how you make your decision. There's softer woods, your American hardwoods, woods that are good for shaping, carving and then painting as an end result. And then there is your more exotic woods. We'll first start with our soft woods.

The first one is fir. It has many construction applications. The next wood is white pine, this is a common wood found in most home improvement centers. The next wood is redwood. It is naturally rot resistant, and it's also used in many construction methods.

The next group that we'll review are some American hardwoods. The first one is walnut. It is a dark brown wood, and it's used in many furniture applications. The next is cherry. It is a reddish wood and often has a very figured appearance. Up next is American White ash, it is a long grain wood of a light color, it is strong and dense. Hickory is also known for it's dense qualities and strength. It is often used in tool handles and in baseball bats. Beechwood is also another dense wood often used in work top, work bench tops. White oak is another wood that is also hard and a long grained wood. It is used in many furniture applications, flooring and other aspects within wood working. Closely related to the white oak is red oak, it has a more pinkish tint and is a slightly looser grained than white oak. Maple is a very dense wood, light in color. Another type of maple is bird's eye maple. It has figured patterns.

The next group is softer woods that are often carved and in the end painted. Next is bass wood. It's used in many carving projects and has to be coated to harden it or either placed in a way in which it won't get dented. The next group of woods is your more exotic woods.

Often coming from different countries. The first is rose wood. It is extremely dense and very heavy. The next is mahogany, it is one of the softer exotic woods, has a dark brown tint and is good for cutting joints. The next is teak, it's a very dense wood and it sometimes been used on the decks of battle ships. Up next is zebra wood. It is named after it's dark stripes and it's used in decorative ways within furniture.Next would is babinga it has a pinkish brownish tint and is also used in furniture and other decorative applications. All of these exotic woods are in most cases the more expensive woods that you can buy.