Balsa Is Hardwood

The trees are harvested after six to 10 years of growth.

Balsa is hardwood. The terms hardwood and softwood don t relate to the weight or density of the wood but to the tree type. Density 160 120 220 kgm3 commercially preferred density range 120 160kgm3. In fact balsa is the spanish word for raft. There are many more types of hardwood trees than there are softwood.

You ll see why below but it really has nothing to do with the density of the wood. Strength and stiffness approximately 50 that of baltic pine pinus sylvestris. The green balsa wood is the one that contains five times more water by weight than the actual wood substance. It is the softest commercial hardwood.

Although the wood of a balsa tree is soft balsa is a hardwood. This wood is far from the other hardwood that you can see in the market since it has more water in it. Balsa wood is the lightest and softest commercial hardwood timber. Balsa has excellent sound heat and vibration insulating properties and is also incredibly buoyant.

Hardwood trees are angiosperms mostly decidous in the northern hemisphere but evergreens in the southern hemisphere while softwoods are conifers. Yet despite its softness balsa is technically classified as a hardwood rather than a softwood since it has broad leaves and is not a conifer. The balsa wood has a solid volume that only consists of 40 of the entire tree. Being a deciduous angiosperm balsa is classified as a hardwood despite the wood itself being very soft.

Like balsa wood basswood is soft and lightweight. However basswood is a hardwood. That said basswood supposedly never splinter or crack.