What are ‘hard' and ‘soft' woods?

‘Technical Matters’ is the first in a number of technical articles that are designed to inform the reader about different aspects and properties of timber as a material, before discussing different processing methods such as kilning and finishing, and describing North American hardwoods in more detail along the way. Read on to find out how wood is formed, the fundamental differences between hardwoods and softwoods, and their different growing regions around the world.

- NEIL SUMMERS

NEIL SUMMERS

Wood is an incredibly variable material and, because of this diversity, it is a slightly misleading term, as there is not one individual species of wood that is capable of performing every task that you might want it to do for you.

Wood grows on trees, or rather it is the product of the growth of that tree over many years, before it is sawn and converted into timber – or lumber, as it is known in America.

There are literally thousands of different types of tree that grow on the planet and each one produces wood with different characteristics and properties that will be suitable for different end uses.

These properties may differ slightly within a single species, but the differences can be huge between wood species – you might say the difference between chalk and cheese!

There are at least 60,000 different species of wood in the world which have been discovered so far. Only a small proportion of these species are traded commercially around the world. But the important fact to understand is that they are traded with a specific purpose or use in mind.

Choosing timber

You might require a durable timber that is not going to rot or be attacked by insects; appearance could be a factor when choosing a timber for making furniture; or a lower cost timber for simple structural applications.