[Woodcarver] Softwood or Hardwood

[Barney Elking]

Just to confuse the issue, there are needled trees that are deciduous -
Larch comes to mind.  We have a broad leaf category that comes into the
discussion but I can't remember exactly how.  Been a long time since I fed
my family from the wood business.

Barney
Fortuna, CA

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Victor Hamburger" <VHamburg at bellatlantic.net>
To: "[Woodcarver]" <woodcarver at six.pairlist.net>
Sent: Monday, October 04, 2004 5:31 AM
Subject: Re: [Woodcarver] Softwood or Hardwood


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> Bob Campanaro wrote:
>
> > I've heard two different versions of the softwood vs hardwood
> > controversy. One says that all deciduous trees are "hardwood" and all
> > needle bearing trees are "softwood".
> >
> > The other says that if you can leave a fingernail imprint in the wood
> > then its "softwood", which would be a more traditional description of
> > 'soft vs hard'.
> >
> > So what do you think?  Basswood is a deciduous tree yet you can leave a
> > fingernail imprint in it.  Is it a "softwood" or a "hardwood"?
>
> Bob,
>
> Technically speaking,  all decideous trees drop their leaves in the fall
and are
> hardwoods, regardless of how easily you can imprint your fingernail in the
wood.
>   Trees with needles, that do not drop their leaves, are softwoods.
>
> As far as woods that are soft or hard, each type of tree has both soft and
hard
> varieties within the group.  Bass is a soft wood that you can dent easily,
as
> are most pines.  But within the pine family, there is Southern Yellow Pine
that
> you can barely drive a steel nail into due to its hardness!
>
> So, bass is correctly categorized as a hardwood specie, but has a low
density
> and therefore is easily bruised by a fingernail. (EG, a "soft" wood)
>
> Dr Bruce Hoadley's book, "Understanding wood" from Taunton Press is an
excellent
> read but a bit pricey at $40.  Try to locate it in your local library or
see if
> they can borrow a copy from another library in your area.  Dr. Hoadley
goes into
> a good more detail than you and I will ever need to know about wood!
>
> Best,  Vic H
>
> Speaking of hardwoods, you must be close to peak color about now in Stowe,
VT.
> Fall is definately here!
>
>
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