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.

Unknown Softwood

Unknown Softwood

A pale cream to light-tan European softwood of undetermined species, showing straight grain, visible rays and radial surface checking — light, soft and easy to work.

Softwood
Pin Oak

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.

Hardwood
White Spruce

White Spruce

A light, pale, straight-grained North American softwood — the classic clean, low-resin utility conifer prized for its strength-to-weight ratio and pale even face.

Softwood
Softwood Plywood

Softwood Plywood

Cross-laminated conifer veneers bonded into stable structural sheets — the pale, workaday plywood behind subfloors, sheathing, roofs and rough carpentry.

Engineered
Boxwood

Boxwood

Exceptionally dense, fine-grained European hardwood in pale cream-yellow, prized for engraving, turning, carving, and instrument fittings.

Hardwood
Tropical Hardwood

Tropical Hardwood

A dense, imported Neotropical hardwood with golden-yellow sapwood, very dark brown heartwood and tight concentric growth rings.

Tropical & Exotic
Chaste Tree

Chaste Tree

A fine-grained, golden yellow-brown Mediterranean hardwood from a shrubby tree — scarce, small-sized, and used mainly for turning, carving, and small craft work.

Hardwood
Azobe (Ekki)

Azobe (Ekki)

Extremely heavy, dark chocolate-brown West African ironwood valued for outstanding durability in marine piling, decking, and heavy hydraulic construction.

Tropical & Exotic
Australian Mangrove

Australian Mangrove

A dense, fine-grained tropical mangrove hardwood from Australia and the Pacific — slow-grown, tightly ringed, and traditionally cut for pilings, poles, and fuel.

Tropical & Exotic
Red Mangrove

Red Mangrove

A dense, fine-grained tropical mangrove hardwood of the Caribbean and Central America — slow-grown in tidal mud and prized locally for pilings, poles, tannin, and charcoal.

Tropical & Exotic
Holm Oak

Holm Oak

A dense, very hard evergreen Mediterranean oak with fine grain and gleaming rays — pale pink to light tan, heavy, and tough to work but exceptionally wear-resistant.

Hardwood