Wood Encyclopedia

Search and identify wood species from around the world — with origin, Janka hardness, grain and color, working properties, common uses, and how to tell them apart.

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Soft Maple or Ash (unidentified)

Soft Maple or Ash (unidentified)

A pale cream-to-tan Eastern North American hardwood — this sample sits between soft maple and ash, two common domestic species that overlap in light stock.

Red Gum

A dense Australian eucalypt famed for deep-red heartwood; the paler tan-to-cream sapwood shown here carries interlocked grain, fine texture, and visible rays.

Ramin

Pale, fine-textured Southeast Asian hardwood once ubiquitous in mouldings and picture frames; now CITES-restricted from peat-swamp overharvest.

Nigerian Hardwood (possibly Direm)

Nigerian Hardwood (possibly Direm)

A cream-to-warm-tan West African hardwood from Nigeria, tentatively identified as Direm, with prominent rays and reddish-brown vessel highlights.

Mansonia

A fine, even-grained West African hardwood often sold as a walnut substitute — attractive but notorious for its highly irritating dust.

Freijo

A medium tan-brown Amazonian hardwood with a fine, even grain and a walnut-like look — stable, moderately hard, and easy to work.

Eucalyptus

A huge Australian hardwood genus sold as "gum": this sample shows the warm golden-honey, fine straight grain with subtle ray fleck typical of the eucalypt oaks.

Poplar Burl

Highly figured burl cut from European poplar — a soft, light hardwood prized for its swirling eyes and warm golden-orange, dark-pored face.

White Oak

Dense, ring-porous North American hardwood prized for its prominent ray fleck, closed pores, and legendary rot resistance.

Olive

The dense, richly streaked wood of the olive tree: pale tan and cream shot through with darker brown heartwood, prized by turners for its dramatic figure.

Whitebeam

A pale, fine-grained European hardwood from the Sorbus family — dense, hard, and even-textured, prized in small pieces for turning, tool parts, and precision work.

White Mulberry

A tough, golden-hued fruit-tree hardwood prized by turners and carvers for its ripple figure, though sawn samples often read pale cream to light tan.

Birdseye Maple

Figured hard maple dotted with tiny circular 'eyes' — a light, pale-golden North American hardwood prized for showpiece work.

Goupia

A dense, durable golden-brown to olive hardwood of the northern Amazon, prized for heavy exterior construction, decking, and marine work.

European Ash

A pale, ring-porous European hardwood — tough, springy and shock-resistant, with bold grain lines and legendary steam-bending and handle-making qualities.

Blackbutt

A dense, pale golden-brown Australian eucalypt hardwood with fine even grain — a workhorse structural, flooring, and decking timber prized for strength and bushfire resistance.

Sweet Chestnut

A pale-tan, oak-like European hardwood — ring-porous, light, and naturally durable — long used for beams, fencing, coopering, and rustic furniture.

African Walnut

A golden-brown West African hardwood with fine, lustrous, gently interlocked grain and a ribbon stripe — walnut-like in look but botanically a mahogany relative.

Silver Birch

Pale cream-white European hardwood with fine, even grain and clear growth rings; tough, plywood-grade, but low in decay resistance.

Japanese Maple

The wood of the ornamental Japanese maple: dense, fine-grained, with tight concentric rings and a warm reddish-brown cast in this sample.

Sweet Cherry

The prized European cabinet cherry: fine tight-ringed grain and a silky surface that ripens from creamy tan to warm reddish-brown.

Hop Hornbeam

A dense, pale, extremely hard European hardwood — fine, even-grained 'ironwood' from a small understory tree, prized for tough turnery and handles.

Bird Cherry

A fine-grained European Prunus with reddish-brown heartwood, tight annual rings, and a warm satiny surface — a small-scale cabinet and turning wood.

Paulownia

An exceptionally light, soft, pale hardwood from the fast-growing kiri tree — prized in Asia for chests, clogs, and instrument parts for its low weight and stability.

Japanese Zelkova

Japanese Zelkova

Keyaki — Japan's premier temple and furniture hardwood: a ring-porous elm relative with warm reddish-amber color, bold grain, and lustrous figure.

Pyrenean Oak

A warm golden-toned Iberian white oak with prominent ring-porous grain and bold ray fleck — a hardy, medium-dense European oak used for furniture, flooring, and cooperage.

English Oak

A ring-porous European white oak prized for strength, ray fleck, and durable heartwood in furniture, joinery, and cooperage.

Pacific Madrone

Pacific Madrone

A dense, warm-toned Pacific Coast hardwood prized for wild curly and burl figure, but notorious for moving and warping as it dries.

Oregon Myrtle

Aromatic honey-brown hardwood from the Oregon and California coast — fine-grained, often boldly figured, and a favorite of turners.

Koa

Endemic Hawaiian hardwood prized for its golden-to-reddish-brown color and shimmering chatoyant curly figure — the signature wood of the islands.

Linden

A pale, feather-light hardwood with fine straight grain and almost no figure — the traditional wood of European carvers and a top choice for detailed relief work.

Alpine Laburnum

Alpine Laburnum

Dense, hard European hardwood from the golden-chain tree — prized in fine turnery and oyster veneer, with a distinctive golden-tan to olive-brown heart.

Oriental Plane

A golden-brown Mediterranean hardwood famous for its dazzling ray fleck — the classic 'lacewood' figure on the quartered face.

Elm

A tough, interlocked-grained hardwood in warm golden-tan to pale brown — famous for resisting splitting and for its exceptional durability underwater.

Wild Service Tree

Wild Service Tree

A dense, fine-grained European fruitwood from Sorbus torminalis — warm honey-brown with reddish tones, prized in cabinetmaking and turning.

European Maple

Pale, lustrous European hardwood prized for curly and burl figure; the classic tonewood for violin backs and fine turnery.

Sweet Birch

A dense, fine-grained eastern North American birch, famous for the wintergreen scent of its bark — pale sapwood over rich reddish heartwood.

Black Alder

A pale tan-cream, light and soft European hardwood with even growth rings — easy to work, quick to turn and carve, and long the wood of choice under water.

Norway Maple

A pale, fine-grained European maple with even diffuse-porous texture and a clean cream-tan color — a good-turning, easily finished utility hardwood.

Downy Oak

A dense, pale-gold Central European white oak with fine, distinct annual rings and broad rays — tough, durable, and closely related to English oak.

Black Locust

Extremely hard, rot-resistant North American hardwood with golden-brown heartwood — the classic wood for fence posts and outdoor work.

Slippery Elm

A tough, interlocked-grain North American elm with reddish-brown heartwood — nearly unsplittable, excellent for bending, and long prized where impact strength matters.

Cork Oak

The evergreen Mediterranean oak prized for its thick cork bark; the wood beneath is a dense, hard, reddish-brown oak used mostly for charcoal, turnery, and firewood.

Pin Oak

A ring-porous red-oak-group hardwood — pale tan with reddish undertones, coarse open grain and bold rays, sold and worked as red oak.

Rowan

A tough, fine-textured European turning and carving wood from the rowan tree — pale tan sapwood, warm brown heart, and centuries of folklore.

Réunion Tamarin Acacia

Réunion Tamarin Acacia

Réunion's prized endemic mountain acacia — dark reddish-brown, often curly, and a close botanical twin of Hawaiian koa and Tasmanian blackwood.

Red Alder

The Pacific Northwest's workhorse softwood-of-a-hardwood: pale, even-textured, and famous for the warm orange blush it takes on when freshly cut.

Plum

A dense, fine-grained fruitwood in the cherry family, prized by turners and carvers for its rich streaky color and small, knotty billets.