Is Douglas Fir Soft Or Hardwood

Common uses and applications.

Is douglas fir soft or hardwood.

This wood is worth mentioning because it is very common at your local home center and it s so inexpensive you ll probably be tempted to make something with it. Hardwood is typically more expensive than softwood. Most hardwoods have a higher density than most softwoods. Balsa is a hardwood but its wood is so soft and lightweight that it s most commonly used for making model airplanes.

That reasoning doesn t apply in every instance but in this case it does. Oak is a hardwood and douglas fir is a softwood which means that oak is harder right. Douglas fir or simply fir as it is typically referred to is the most stable wood on a cellular level because once it is seasoned it virtually stops shrinking or warping. The coast douglas fir variety is the dominant tree west of the cascade mountains in the pacific northwest occurring in nearly all forest types competes well on most parent materials aspects and slopes.

However douglas fir which is a gymnosperm or softwood is actually harder than chestnut an angiosperm that most people would call a hardwood. Adapted to a moist mild climate it grows larger and faster than rocky mountain douglas fir. Such a gorgeous scandinavian style floor our most popular floor dubbed the world s most beautiful floor but the most problematic that we produce. Examples of softwood trees are cedar douglas fir juniper pine redwood spruce and yew.

Maple soft 999 hickory 1820 merbau 1925 pecan 1820 mesquite 2345 yellowheart 1820 oak tasmainian 1010 kenpass 1854. Many people are unaware that douglas fir is a softwood and will mark dent easily it also has a tendency to split and crack. Red oak wood is almost exactly twice as hard as douglas fir wood and white oak wood is even harder. Douglas fir like all firs is a softwood softwood is actually a term that is used to classify all the conifers while hardwood is used as a classification for all angiosperm trees.

Douglass fir 660 beech european 1300 ebony brazilian 3692 beech american 1300 gingerwood 1600 ash domestic white 1320 goncalo alves 2160 amendoim 1360. Most softwoods have a lower density than most hardwoods. Due to its strength douglas fir is primarily used for building and construction.