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Types Of Timber
By Brad M Jones
There is a large variety of wood that is available to the woodworker. The woods used by the woodworker fall into three categories, being, softwoods, hardwoods and man-made woods.


Nature has produced thousands of natural woods (these are the softwoods and hardwoods), however, there are only between 60 to 80 that are actually used by the woodworker. There are about half a dozen manufactured woods (man-made woods) that are used by the woodworker.

The wood you choose to use will depend on the texture you want, your budget, the availability of woods and the type of project. As there is such a variety of woods available you will always find the type of wood that you are looking for. Descriptions of the three categories of timber, softwoods, hardwoods and man-made woods are contained below:

Hardwoods

Hardwoods are available in a variety of textures and colors and due to their variety are the preferred wood used by woodworkers. Due to the large variety of hardwoods available it is not possible to list them all in this article, however, a few of the most popular are:

Beech

Beech has proved to be a very popular wood due to it being a light, strong and hard wood. Beech is a whitish colored wood and has a fine texture and is very easy to work with. The wood also glues easily and bends exceptionally well.

Oak

Of the different varieties of oak that are available the two most popular are the European variety (yellow in color) and the American variety (pink to reddish in color). Oak is a sturdy and durable wood that has pronounced pores and is used for larger pieces of such as cabinets and lounges.

Mahogany

Mahogany

is known for its distinctive coarse to medium grain and reddish-brown color. However, as Mahogany is very popular in making it is hard to find and expensive.


Softwoods

Softwoods come from trees that usually 20 to 25 years old and as such are younger trees than hardwoods. Some of the popular softwoods are listed below:

Pine

There are a few different varieties of pine that are found around the world and most regions will have at least one. Pine comes in a creamy yellow or clean white color and is inexpensive, easy to use and in plentiful supply. Pine has a fine to medium texture, is straight grained and can be knotty.

Cedar

Cedar is a fine textured, straight grained timber that has a honey color and is known for its aromatic fragrance. Cedar of Lebanon is the most popular species of cedar and is commonly used in cabinet making.

Man-made Woods

Man-made woods have become increasingly important with many natural woods now more expensive and rare. Man-made woods are more durable, cheaper and available than their natural wood equivalents. There are many different types of man-made woods, including:

Plywood

Plywood is manufactured to have a high strength-to-weight ratio and comes is a variety of shapes, sizes and thickness. Plywood is manufactured by laminating sheets of wood together with the grains of the sheets being placed at right angles.

MDF

Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF) is made by using a tough resin to fix together tiny particles. MDF comes in a variety of sizes, shapes and thickness and is a dense wood.
Other types of wood can be found at: www.woodworkingfromplans.com/types-of-wood.php

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