Balsa Is A Hardwood

This happens to be generally true but there are exceptions such as in the cases of wood from yew trees a softwood that is relatively hard and wood from balsa trees a.

Balsa is a hardwood. Being a deciduous angiosperm balsa is classified as a hardwood despite the wood itself being very soft. There are many more types of hardwood trees than there are softwood. Balsa is a hardwood because of its broad leaves and its flowers it is the softest commercially harvested hardwood. Classifying wood as either a hardwood or softwood comes down to its physical structure and makeup and so it is overly simple to think of hardwoods as being hard and durable compared to soft and workable softwoods.

However basswood is a hardwood. Larger boards and lumber sold through typical hardwood dealers is hard to find but generally has a better cost per board foot than other sources. Unlike balsa wood basswood doesn t grow quickly. It is also very light of the questions choices mixture would be the best fit.

Balsa lumber is very soft and light with a coarse open grain. That said basswood supposedly never splinter or crack. But as the classification of balsa wood demonstrates there is no minimum weight requirement to become a hardwood. The balsa wood has a solid volume that only consists of 40 of the entire tree.

High quality balsa that is balsa with a very low density can be rather expensive when purchased at hobby stores or other specialty outlets. The name balsa comes from the spanish word for raft. Evergreens do tend to be less dense than deciduous trees and therefore easier to cut while most hardwoods tend to be more dense and therefore sturdier. This wood is far from the other hardwood that you can see in the market since it has more water in it.

The terms hardwood and softwood don t relate to the weight or density of the wood but to the tree type. Hardwood trees are angiosperms mostly decidous in the northern hemisphere but evergreens in the southern hemisphere while softwoods are conifers. Like balsa wood basswood is soft and lightweight. It is the softest commercial hardwood.

The hardwood softwood terminology does make some sense. And like balsa wood it s best to glue it together.