Is Birch A Hardwood Or Soft

Birch is reserved for butcher blocks some tool handles and specialty.

Is birch a hardwood or soft.

There are over a dozen species of birch trees native to north america but the most common are white birch yellow birch and black birch. On a hardness scale birch lumber ranks at the top with hard rock maple and in fact is often mistaken for maple. Wood products are known for their natural beauty but when selecting a type of wood for your next cabinetry flooring furniture or millwork project it is important to also consider the level of durability by understanding the difference between wood types. With some birch flooring options the sapwood and heartwood may be blended to provide an interesting contrast that makes the birch flooring unique.

Sweet birch has a janka rating of 1 470. Yellow birch rates 1 260 paper birch 910 and gray birch 760. Equally popular and similarly durable is oak hardwood which has been used for floors boats and barrels for centuries. In general hardwood comes from deciduous trees leafy or flowering trees that generally lose their leaves in winter.

Other soft hardwoods. The wood of sweet and yellow birches is hard strong and heavy. Because of its grain it is often chosen for flooring in an unfinished state. Birch is a popular type of hardwood flooring for its versatility and variety of color options.

Paper birch wood is lighter and not as stiff hard or strong. Birch hardwood has a straight tight grain. Some examples of hardwoods include maple oak alder birch cherry hickory mahogany and walnut. And softwood comes from conifer trees that are generally evergreen.

The specific gravity of sweet birch is 0 65. Softwoods include pine redwood and cedar. Birch is a native hardwood that comes from the genus betula. This happens to be generally true but there are exceptions such as in the cases of wood from yew trees a softwood that is relatively hard and wood from balsa trees a.

Both woods make great flooring for your space but there are some differences. Types of wood comparing american hardwoods softwoods and tropical hardwoods. That of yellow birch is 0 62. Yellow birch and white birch are the two most commonly found in woodworking.

Classifying wood as either a hardwood or softwood comes down to its physical structure and makeup and so it is overly simple to think of hardwoods as being hard and durable compared to soft and workable softwoods. One interesting aspect of birch is that it usually has a light colored sapwood and darker heartwood.