Is Douglas Fir A Hardwood Or Softwood

Douglas fir is a large tree reaching 85 metres on bc s coast and 42 metres in the interior.

Is douglas fir a hardwood or softwood.

This softwood lumber dries well with good dimensional stability. Wikimedia commons douglas fir is another softwood that plays a vital role in making furniture and several other wooden items. The heartwood is light tan to medium brown changing to orange brown due to exposure to sunlight and age. Such a gorgeous scandinavian style floor our most popular floor dubbed the world s most beautiful floor but the most problematic that we produce.

Many people are unaware that douglas fir is a softwood and will mark dent easily it also has a tendency to split and crack. Douglas fir douglas fir wood image. Spruce pine fir south this species combination classed as moderately strong is cross continental in origin. It dries evenly and stays stable during use.

Softwood is typically less expensive compared to hardwood. The oldest trees can be more than 1 500 years old. Examples of softwood trees are cedar douglas fir juniper pine redwood spruce and yew. Straight grained and moderately heavy with limited resin this is one of the most attractive and strongest of the western softwood species.

The heartwood is moderately decay resistant. Most hardwoods have a higher density than most softwoods. That reasoning doesn t apply in every instance but in this case it does. Balsa is a hardwood but its wood is so soft and lightweight that it s most commonly used for making model airplanes.

You may not find this wood as readily as pinewood as it mostly comes only from the west coast or eastern asia. Most softwoods have a lower density than most hardwoods. Douglas fir has a high bending strength shear strength and stiffness. Oak is a hardwood and douglas fir is a softwood which means that oak is harder right.

Red oak wood is almost exactly twice as hard as douglas fir wood and white oak wood is even harder. It is a hard species and is suitable for use where wear is a factor. However douglas fir which is a gymnosperm or softwood is actually harder than chestnut an angiosperm that most people would call a hardwood. It is a very durable wood which is used extensively in industrial applications for wharves trestles and heavy construction.