Timber

There are two types of timber, called hardwood and softwood. These names do not refer to the properties of the wood: some softwoods can be hard and some hardwoods can be soft.

Softwood

Softwoods come from coniferous trees which are evergreen, needle-leaved, cone-bearing trees, such as cedar, fir and pine.

Hardwood

Hardwoods come from broad-leaved, deciduous trees. The main hardwood timbers are ash, beech, birch, cherry, elm, iroko, mahogany, meranti, oak, obeche, sapele and teak.

Properties and uses of hardwood timbers.

Name	Properties	Uses
Ash	Light, creamy-brown colour, open-grainedopen grain: A wood with visible large pores - eg oak., toughtough: Able to withstand blows or sudden shocks without breaking., flexibleflexible: Capable of being bent or flexed many times without breaking.	Sports equipment, wooden ladders, tool handles
Beech	White to pinkish-brown in colour, close-grainedclose-grained: A wood with no visible large pores - eg beech., hardhard: Able to resist wear, scratching and indentation., tough, strongstrong: Able to withstand a force without breaking or bending., warpswarps: Bends or twists out of shape, this is common with wood as it dries. easily	Furniture, toys, tool handles
Elm	Light to medium brown in colour, open and sometimes interlocking graininterlocking grain: The grains have a weaved structure. For wood this makes it strong, less prone to splitting andn often suitable for bending., tough, durabledurability: The ability of a material to withstand wear, especially as a result of weathering., resists splitting, durable in water	Indoor and outdoor furniture
Mahogany	Pink to reddish-brown colour, fairly strong, durable, some interlocking grain	Good quality furniture
Oak	Light brown colour, strong, hard, tough, open-grained, corrodes steel screws and fittings	Interior woodwork, good quality furniture