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.
European Hornbeam
A pale, exceptionally hard and heavy European hardwood with fine, even grain — the classic wood for mallet heads, gears, tool handles, and piano actions.
Hardwood
Hawthorn
A very hard, dense pale European hedgerow hardwood with a fine even grain, prized in small sizes for turning, tool handles and engraving.
Hardwood
Birch
A pale, fine-grained northern hardwood — cream to white with warm tones, strong and even-textured, and the backbone of quality birch plywood.
Hardwood
Spruce
A light, soft, pale cream-to-tan European softwood with fine even grain — strong for its weight, easy to work, and the classic tonewood for instrument soundboards.
Softwood
Grand Fir
A light, soft, pale Pacific Northwest true fir with fine even grain and low resin — an economical framing and utility softwood, mild-working but not decay-resistant.
Softwood
East Indian Rosewood
Dense, dark reddish-brown South Asian rosewood with fine interlocked grain — a fragrant, durable cabinet and instrument wood prized for tone and figure.
Hardwood
Wenge
Dark brown-to-black Central African hardwood with a bold black-and-tan striped figure, coarse texture, and high density — a favorite for flooring and accents.
Tropical & Exotic
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.
Hardwood
Calophyllum
Warm golden- to reddish-brown Latin American hardwood of medium density, valued for flooring, joinery, and general construction with a subtle ribbon figure.
Tropical & Exotic
Carob
A dense, hard Mediterranean hardwood in tan to light-brown tones with fine grain and radiating figure — scarce, mostly a turner's and small-craft wood.
Hardwood
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.
Hardwood
Malabar Myrobalan
A dense, dark-brown Indian hardwood of the Terminalia group — the classic 'Indian Laurel' of cabinetwork, with golden tones and a moderate ribbon figure.
Tropical & Exotic
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.
Hardwood
Mango Wood
A golden-brown tropical hardwood reclaimed from spent fruit orchards — light-tan with dark streaks, often figured, prized as a sustainable furniture wood.
Tropical & Exotic
Ziricote
A dense Central American hardwood famous for dramatic "spider-web" figure — grayish to medium brown with fine black streaking and high natural luster.
Tropical & Exotic
African Mahogany
The mainstream mahogany substitute: an open-grained West African hardwood with warm reddish-brown color and a ribbon-striped interlocked figure.
Tropical & Exotic
Swiss Stone Pine
Light, soft, aromatic Alpine softwood — the classic 'Zirbe' carving and paneling wood, pale cream to off-white with a lasting sweet resinous scent.
Softwood