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.

All Hardwood Softwood Tropical & Exotic Engineered Bamboo Reclaimed

Teak

Golden-brown tropical hardwood famous for its natural oils, exceptional weather resistance, and dimensional stability — the classic wood for boats and outdoor furniture.

Tropical & Exotic

Iroko

West Africa's durable golden-brown hardwood — often called African teak — prized for outdoor joinery, boatwork and worktops for its stability and decay resistance.

Tropical & Exotic

Black Locust

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

Koa

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

Schima

A medium-hard, light-tan-to-brown Asian hardwood from the needlewood tree (Schima wallichii), used for construction, furniture, and plywood — but with irritant bark and dust.

Ramin

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

Pterospermum

A medium-density, fine and even-grained Southeast Asian hardwood from the bayur (Pterospermum) tree, showing a warm medium-to-dark brown planed surface.

Meranti

Southeast Asian tropical hardwood from Shorea species — a mahogany-like utility wood, golden-orange to reddish-brown, widely used for plywood, joinery, and trim.

Tropical & Exotic

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

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

Jack Wood

Heavy, tough South/Southeast Asian hardwood in warm tan to light brown, valued for its strength, durability and heavy structural and joinery work.

Bahera

A moderately hard, fine-grained reddish-brown to tan Asian hardwood from the bahera (beleric myrobalan) tree, used for utility joinery, plywood, and packing.

Tropical & Exotic

Ceylon Oak

Extremely hard, heavy South Asian hardwood (kusum) with fine even grain and medium-to-dark brown color, used for tool handles, crushers, and turnery.

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.

Nux Vomica

A hard, dense, close-grained brown hardwood from the South Asian strychnine tree, whose bitter alkaloid-laden timber is used for tool handles, implements, and turnery.

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.

Canary Pine

A resinous, warm-toned softwood from the Canary Island pine — pale cream sapwood over a durable, amber "tea" heartwood long prized for island joinery and balconies.

Bruguiera cylindrica

Bruguiera cylindrica

A dense, hard mangrove hardwood from Southeast Asia's tidal forests — fine-grained, tan to light brown, and cut mostly for poles, fuelwood, and charcoal.

Freijo

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

Sweet Chestnut

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

Sugar Maple

Dense, pale North American hardwood prized for its hardness, tight even grain, and prized figure like bird's eye and curl.

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.

Louro Preto

A moderately hard, honey-brown Amazonian hardwood from Cordia goeldiana — often sold as Freijó — with a walnut-like look, easy working, and good stability.

Tropical & Exotic

Tree of Heaven

Pale cream-to-tan ring-porous hardwood from a fast-growing invasive tree — ash-like grain, light, satiny, and essentially free where it grows.