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.
Shorea
Broad Southeast Asian genus sold as meranti and lauan — a light tan, straight-grained tropical hardwood used for plywood, joinery, and utility furniture.
Tropical & Exotic
Katalox
A dense, very dark brown-to-black tropical hardwood from Mexico and Central America, prized as an affordable ebony substitute with fine, tight grain.
Tropical & Exotic
Goupia
A dense, durable golden-brown to olive hardwood of the northern Amazon, prized for heavy exterior construction, decking, and marine work.
Hardwood
Bulletwood
Extremely dense, durable reddish-brown South American hardwood with fine, uniform grain, prized for heavy construction, decking, and turning.
Tropical & Exotic
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.
Hardwood
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
Koa
Endemic Hawaiian hardwood prized for its golden-to-reddish-brown color and shimmering chatoyant curly figure — the signature wood of the islands.
Hardwood
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.
Hardwood
Okoumé
A light, soft, golden-tan Central African hardwood with fine even grain — the classic marine-plywood and core-veneer wood, low in weight and easy to peel.
Tropical & Exotic
Boxwood
Exceptionally dense, fine-grained European hardwood in pale cream-yellow, prized for engraving, turning, carving, and instrument fittings.
Hardwood
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
White Poplar
A pale, lightweight European hardwood of the poplar family — soft, fine-textured, and odorless, long used for boxes, plywood core, and utility work.
Hardwood
Rhododendron
A dense, fine-grained pale hardwood from shrubby East Asian rhododendrons — compact rings, light tan to gold color, and a turner's favorite for small work.
Hardwood
White Oak
Dense, ring-porous North American hardwood prized for its prominent ray fleck, closed pores, and legendary rot resistance.
Hardwood
Ebony
Dense, jet-black tropical hardwood with an extremely fine, poreless grain, prized for instrument parts, fine turning, and inlay.
Tropical & Exotic
Quebracho Colorado
One of the hardest, densest woods on earth — a deep maroon-red South American hardwood whose Spanish name literally means 'axe-breaker.'
Tropical & Exotic
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.
Hardwood
Oregon Myrtle
Aromatic honey-brown hardwood from the Oregon and California coast — fine-grained, often boldly figured, and a favorite of turners.
Hardwood
Paper Birch
A pale, fine-grained North American hardwood famous for its white peeling bark; tough, even, and easy to work but not decay-resistant.
Hardwood
Sapele
A dense reddish-brown African hardwood in the mahogany family, prized for its lustrous interlocked ribbon stripe and use in furniture, joinery, and guitars.
Tropical & Exotic
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.
Hardwood
Padauk
Dense, durable Southeast Asian hardwood famous for vivid orange-red heartwood that ages to a deep purple-maroon, prized for furniture, flooring and turning.
Tropical & Exotic
Crape Myrtle
A dense, fine-grained ornamental hardwood cut from the crape myrtle shrub-tree; pale cream to tan with tightly spaced rings and a smooth, uniform texture.
Hardwood
White Ash
A strong, pale, ring-porous North American hardwood with bold straight grain and outstanding shock resistance — the classic wood for tool handles and baseball bats.
Hardwood