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.
Eastern Red Cedar
A fragrant North American juniper — reddish-purple heartwood against pale sapwood, famous for moth-repelling cedar chests and closet linings.
Softwood
Eastern White Pine
The classic soft, lightweight, pale North American pine: fine even grain, distinct growth rings, and a wood that carves, planes, and paints with ease.
Softwood
Reclaimed Historic Softwood
Weathered structural softwood salvaged from a historic Texas building — gray silvered surface over warm brown patina, with straight old-growth grain.
Reclaimed
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
Pine (unspecified)
The everyday pale, resinous softwood of Northern Europe — pale cream to light honey with crisp, boldly marked annual rings.
Softwood
Ponderosa Pine
A soft, light Western softwood — pale yellow sapwood and warm orange-tan heartwood, straight-grained, easy to work, and the classic knotty-pine millwork timber.
Softwood
Japanese Cedar
Japan's national tree and premier building softwood — light, straight-grained, aromatic sugi prized for its warm tone and easy working.
Softwood
Pitch Pine
A resinous eastern-North-American softwood: pale yellow-brown, distinct growth rings, heavy for a pine, historically prized for its pitch and durable, resin-soaked heartwood.
Softwood
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
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
Arborvitae
A very light, soft, aromatic softwood — better known as Northern White Cedar — prized for rot resistance in shingles, posts, and canoe ribs.
Softwood
Juniper
Aromatic, knotty Western softwood with honey-tan sapwood and dark, rot-resistant heartwood — dense and gnarly for a conifer, prized for character turning and rustic work.
Softwood
Douglas Fir
A strong, stiff Pacific Northwest softwood — cream to tan with bold growth rings and reddish bands — the backbone of North American structural timber.
Softwood
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.
Hardwood
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
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