Is Oak A Hardwood Or Softwood

Hardwood vs softwood comparison.

Is oak a hardwood or softwood.

Simple answer is that it is a hardwood. On the janka scale red oak has a hardness of 1290 while white oak has a hardness of 1360. There are some hard softwoods as well as soft hardwoods. Hardwood is wood from dicot trees these are usually found in broad leaved temperate and tropical forests.

When installing brand new hardwood throughout the house the option you choose really depends on aesthetics. If a tree drops its leaves it s considered a hardwood. The density of a wood is determined based on the multiple growths and physiological factors such as age diameter height radial growth geographical location site and growing conditions etc. Another trade name for this blend is tasmanian oak.

However because red oak has a more pronounced grain pattern it tends to hide scratches and dents better than white oak. Depending on the type of your project you may need either or both of the different kinds of wood. Cypress pine is an australian softwood despite its apparent hardness. Wood is categorized into two groups based on their density as softwood and hardwood.

Similarly we expect softwood to be soft and light. Although the wood from hardwood trees is generally harder douglas fir or southern yellow pine softwoods are much harder than poplar hardwood. From angiosperm or flowering plants such as oak maple or walnut that are not monocots the hardwood is formed by these while from gymnosperm trees usually evergreen conifers like pine or spruce the softwood is formed. Brush box is an australian hardwood.

But a hardwood is not necessarily a harder denser material than a softwood. It is a dense. If it has needles it s considered a softwood. Other soft hardwoods.

For example balsa wood is light and not very dense and is considered a hardwood. Indo gemstone indogemstone when we think about hardwood we think of hard and dense material. Citation needed in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen hardwood which come from angiosperm trees contrasts with softwood which are from gymnosperm trees. Oak hardwood 37 56 pine softwood 22 35 poplar hardwood 22 31 redwood softwood 28 55 spruce softwood 25 44 teak hardwood 41 61 walnut hardwood 40 43 yew softwood 42 as evidenced by the table above alder and balsa are soft hardwoods while juniper and yew are hard softwoods.