Wood Info

ALDER WOOD

GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Alder, a relative of birch, is almost white when freshly cut, but quickly changes with exposure to air, becoming light brown with a yellow or reddish tinge. Heartwood is formed only in trees of advanced age and there is no visible boundary between sap and heartwood. The wood is fairly straight-grained with a uniform texture.

WORKING PROPERTIES
Alder machines well and is excellent for turning. It nails, screws and glues well, and can be sanded, painted, or stained to a good finish. When stained, it blends with walnut or cherry. It dries easily with little degrade and has good dimensional stability after drying.

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
Alder is a relatively soft hardwood of medium density that has low bending strength, shock resistance, and stiffness.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The sapwood is light-colored to nearly white and the heartwood varies from grayish or light brown, to pale yellow streaked with brown. The wood is generally straight-grained with a coarse uniform texture. The degree and availability of light-colored sapwood, and other properties, will vary according to the growing regions.

WORKING PROPERTIES
Ash machines well, is good in nailing, screwing and gluing, and can be stained to a very good finish. It dries fairly easily with minimal degrade, and there is little movement in performance.

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
Ash has very good overall strength properties relative to its weight. It has excellent shock resistance and is good for steam bending.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The heartwood of cherry varies from rich red to reddish brown and will darken with age and on exposure to light. In contrast, the sapwood is creamy white. The wood has a straight-grain, a fine, uniform, satiny and smooth texture, and naturally may contain brown pith flecks and small gum pockets.

WORKING PROPERTIES
Cherry is easy to machine, nails and glues well, and when sanded and stained, it produces an excellent, smooth  finish. It dries fairly quickly with moderately high shrinkage, but dimensionally is stable after kiln-drying.

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
Cherry is of medium density with good bending properties, has low stiffness, and medium strength and shock resistance.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

The sapwood is a creamy white with a slight reddish brown tinge, and the heartwood varies from light to dark reddish brown. The wood has a close, fine texture and is generally straight-grained.

WORKING PROPERTIES
Hard maple dries slowly with high shrinkage, so it can be susceptible to movement in performance. Pre-boring is recommended when nailing and screwing. With care, it machines well, turns well, glues satisfactorily and can be stained to an outstanding finish. The wood polishes well and is suitable for enamel finishes and brown tones.

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
The wood is hard and heavy with good strength properties. In particular, it has high resistance to abrasion and wear. It also has good steam-bending properties.

RED OAK

GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The sapwood of red oak is white to light brown and the heartwood is a pinkish-reddish brown. The wood is similar in general appearance to white oak, but with a slightly less-pronounced figure due to the smaller rays. The wood is mostly straight-grained, with a coarse texture.

WORKING PROPERTIES
It machines well. Pre-boring is recommended for nailing and screwing. It can be stained to a golden finish, with a wide range of finish tones.

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
Red oak is hard and heavy, with medium-bending strength and stiffness and high-crushing strength.

WHITE OAK

GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The sapwood is light-colored and the heartwood is light-to-dark brown. White oak is mostly straight-grained with a medium-to-coarse texture. Having longer rays than red oak, white oak has more figure.

WORKING PROPERTIES
It machines well, nails and screws well, although pre-boring is advised. Due to its reaction with iron, galvanized nails are recommended. Its adhesive properties are variable. The wood dries slowly, but stains to a good finish.

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
White oak is a hard and heavy wood with a medium-bending and crushing strength, low in stiffness, but very good in steam-bending. It has great wear-resistance.

WALNUT

GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The sapwood is creamy white, while the heartwood is light brown to dark chocolate brown, occasionally with a purplish cast and darker streaks. It is usually supplied steamed, to darken the sapwood. The wood is generally straight-grained; sometimes with wavy or curly grain that produces an attractive and decorative figure.

WORKING PROPERTIES
It works easily with hand and machine tools, and nails, screws, and glues well. It holds paint and stain very well for an exceptional finish and is readily polished. It dries slowly, and care is needed to avoid kiln degrade. It has good dimensional stability.

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
Walnut is a tough hardwood of medium density, with moderate bending and crushing strengths, and low stiffness. It has a good steam-bending classification.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

Beech is typically a pale cream color, sometimes with a pink or brown hue. Veneer tends to be slightly darker colored, as slicing the veneer usually requires the wood to be prepared with steam, which gives the wood a more golden tone. Flatsawn surfaces tend to be very plain, while quartersawn surfaces exhibit a silvery fleck pattern.

WORKING PROPERTIES
it machines well, and glues, finishes, and turns well. Beech also responds superbly to steam-bending.

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
Wood grain is dense and hard, it is suitable for bending wood. Currently European origin is the main.