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.
Ash wood
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.
Black Cherry
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.
Hard maple
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.
Beech
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.
Cedar
GENERAL DESCRIPTION: Domestically produced Sugi refers to the scientific name "Cryptomelia · Japonica", which means "Hidden Japan's wealth". Heartwood is typically reddish brown. Sapwood is straw colored and clearly demarcated from the heartwood. Knots are common.
WORKING PROPERTIES: Generally easy to work with hand or machine tools, though knotty areas can be troublesome. Glues, and stains finishes well.
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES: So far softness has been considered unsuitable for furniture, but Hida Sangyo has developed technology to enhance strength by heat compression, realizing the product. It features beautiful wood grain and warm feel.
