Timbers

• strong and durable
• attractive grain
• expensive
• becoming rarer
• not the easiest wood to work with
• corrodes iron and steel
• historically used for building houses and boat
• more recently used for making high end furniture and wine/whisky barrels.
• PROPERTIES: 

  Strength and Durability: Oak is a strong, hardwood, making it highly durable and resistant to wear and tear. 

  Pest & Water Resistance: Its high natural tannin content makes oak resistant to rot, fungal infestations, and insect damage. 

  Appearance: Oak has a characteristic golden, yellow-brown hue with a medium to coarse, often straight grain. Quarter-sawn oak reveals shimmering medullary rays, adding significant visual interest. 

  Workability: The wood can be easily worked with hand and machine tools, though the grain pattern can affect the ease of use. 

  Finish: Oak takes glue, stain, polish, and wax well, making it versatile for various finishes. 

  Moisture Movement: It exhibits moderate movement with changes in moisture, making it important for proper drying. 

  Compatibility: Oak does not interact well with iron, which can stain it, but is compatible with most other materials.

• quite easy to work with
• very attractive grain
• expensive
• environmental problems with sourcing from tropical forests
• oils in the wood can cause skin rashes and breathing problems
• used for making high-quality furniture, jewellery boxes and windows.

PROPERTIES:

Workability: The wood is easy to work, sand and machine, maintaining a balance of density that is neither too hard nor too soft. 

Stability: Mahogany is known for its excellent dimensional stability, exhibiting minimal shrinkage or swelling when exposed to moisture and humidity. 

Durability: It is a strong and long-lasting wood, resistant to rot, decay, mold and insect infestations. 

Appearance: Mahogany has a rich, red-brown colour that deepens with age, often displaying a beautiful, fine and straight grain pattern. 

Finishing: It accepts stains and polishes exceptionally well, achieving a smooth and lustrous finish favoured for high-end applications. 

• a tough wood
• hard
• does not crack or splinter easily
• expensive
• not very resistant to moisture
• not suitable for exterior (outside) use
• used for making toys, cooking implements, solid and laminated furniture.

PROPERTIES:

Physical Properties

Colour: Typically pale brown or white, turning to a pinkish-reddish colour after steaming. 

Grain & Texture: Close-grained with a fine, even texture. 

Hardness: A hard and tough wood, with high strength properties, including bending strength, stiffness, and impact resistance. 

Density: It is a relatively dense hardwood. 

Working Properties

Workability: Easy to work, glue, and machine to a fine finish. 

Steam Bending: Exceptional steam-bending properties allow it to be bent into tight curves, which is highly valued in furniture design. 

Moisture Movement: High moisture movement makes it susceptible to swelling, warping, and splitting, particularly in humid conditions. 

Finishing: Stains and finishes well, offering a beautiful surface quality. 

Durability: Not considered naturally durable and does not tolerate outdoor or very humid conditions well. 

Treatability: Easy to treat, though this is often less of a focus due to its susceptibility to moisture changes

• Very light
• Easy to cut
• Sustainable
• Non toxic and biodegradable
• Fire resistant - difficult to light
• Weather resistant
• much too soft and weak for most products
• used for model making, surf board cores
• historically used for rafts.

• Physical Properties

  Lightweight: Balsa is one of the lightest commercial woods, making it ideal for model making. 

  Softness: Despite being a hardwood, it is the softest commercial hardwood, making it easy to cut and work with. 

  Colour: It has a pale, light yellow to almost white colour, though older pieces can be light brown or pink. 

  Grain: The grain is coarse and open, with even, barely noticeable annual rings. 

  High Strength-to-Weight Ratio: Balsa wood is considered the strongest wood for its weight. 

  Good Energy Absorption: Its low relative density allows it to absorb energy well, similar to honeycomb structures. 

  Elasticity: It is known for its elasticity and dimensional stability. 

  Insulation: Balsa has excellent thermal and sound-insulating properties. 

  Buoyancy: Its low density and lack of water absorption contribute to its high buoyancy. 

  Durability & Maintenance

  Softness: It is not a durable wood and is prone to damage. 

  Moisture Sensitivity: Freshly cut or unseasoned balsa is susceptible to insect and mushroom infestation and will shrink as it dries. 

  Weather Resistance: It is not naturally resistant to weathering or rot. 

• Very durable
• Easy to work
• Quite cheap as it grows quickly enough to be forested
• reasonable strong, lightweight and easy to work with
• can warp, crack and splinter more than some other woods
• used for house construction in roof joists and floorboards
• used internally for furniture and doors.

PROPERTIES:

Density & Strength: Pine is a softwood with moderate density, ranging from roughly 350 to 700 kg/m³. It offers good compressive and bending strength, making it suitable for structural uses but generally less strong than hardwoods. 

Workability: Its soft, straight, and uniform grain makes pine exceptionally easy to work with. It can be easily cut, nailed, glued, sanded, and finished, making it a favourite for both experienced and novice woodworkers. 

Appearance: Pine is typically light in colour, with yellow or pale cream tones, and often features brown knots that add character. Its grain is straight and uniform, with a medium to coarse texture. 

Durability & Decay Resistance: While moderately durable and resistant to wear, untreated pine has low natural resistance to decay, fungi, and insects. Pressure treatment is often necessary for outdoor or in-ground use to improve longevity and resistance. 

Moisture Resistance: Pine is moderately moisture-resistant but can warp or swell if exposed to high humidity for extended periods. Its sapwood is more permeable than its core, making it easy to treat with protective substances. 

Other Properties: Pine wood is also noted for being a renewable resource and is widely available at a moderate to low cost. It has good flexibility, which allows for intricate work and prevents it from becoming brittle.

• Natural oils make it water and fungal growth resistant
• not as strong and more expensive than pine
• used for furniture, fences, shed and boats.

PROPERTIES:

Aromatic: Cedar is naturally aromatic, with scents varying by species, often described as fruity or tropical. 

Moisture Resistance: Its natural oils provide excellent resistance to rot, decay, and moisture. 

Insect Repellent: The natural oils also make cedar resistant to insects. 

Durability: It is a durable wood, though sometimes described as brittle, and is known for its longevity. 

Dimensional Stability: Cedar is highly stable, with a low shrinkage factor, making it resistant to warping, twisting and checking. 

Thermal Insulation: Its low density and high proportion of air spaces make it a superior thermal insulator compared to many other materials. 

Aesthetic Appeal: Cedar has attractive grain patterns and colour variations. 

Lightweight: It is a relatively lightweight wood

• Layers of tree trunk called veneer are glued together with the grain lines going in alternate directions
• Flat, strong and looks like wood
• Resistant to warping, cracking and twisting
• quite expensive
• edges can look rough
• susceptible to water damage if the wrong grade is used. Marine ply is available
• used for building and panels that need strength.

PROPERTIES:

Strength and Stiffness: Plywood is exceptionally strong because its multiple layers of wood veneer are glued together with alternating grain directions. This cross-graining provides uniform strength, high bending strength, and stiffness, making it resistant to loads and impacts. 

Dimensional Stability: The cross-laminated structure makes plywood highly stable, resisting changes in shape and size. It is less prone to shrinking, swelling, or warping compared to solid wood. 

Impact Resistance: The layered construction gives plywood excellent resistance to impacts, allowing it to withstand bumps and knocks without significant damage. 

High Strength-to-Weight Ratio: Plywood offers significant strength while being relatively lightweight, making it efficient for structural applications where heavy materials are impractical. 

Screw and Nail Holding: The alternating grain patterns provide a tight grip for fasteners, ensuring strong and secure joints. 

Moisture Resistance: The type of adhesive used to bond the layers influences its water resistance, but good quality plywood can be very resistant to moisture and humidity, suitable for some exterior uses. 

Versatility and Aesthetics: Plywood can be painted, stained, or varnished to achieve various finishes, making it versatile for furniture and interior design. 

Flexibility: Plywood can be manufactured in various thicknesses and sizes to meet different design requirements. 

Thermal and Acoustic Insulation: Plywood provides a degree of sound and thermal insulation, absorbing sound waves and preventing heat transfer through the panel. 

Sustainability: Plywood uses wood efficiently and can incorporate fast-growing trees, supporting sustainable building practices. 

• wood dust and fibres are mixed with a glue and pressed into flat sheets under extreme pressure and heat
• cheap as made from waste wood
• smooth and ungrained so good for painting or staining
• easily manufactured
• needs coating as not very aesthetic
• weak compare to real wood or plywood
• used for cheap flat pack furniture, wall panels, display cabinet and storage units.

PROPERTIES:

Dimensional Stability: MDF doesn't have a wood grain, so it is far less prone to warping, twisting, or expanding/contracting with changes in temperature and humidity compared to solid wood. 

Smooth Surface: Its extremely fine and uniform particle composition results in a smooth, flat surface free from knots or grain, making it an excellent base for paint, laminates, and veneers. 

Workability: MDF can be easily cut, drilled, routed, and shaped with precision, making it ideal for intricate designs and furniture construction. 

Uniformity: Because it's made from wood fibres, it has a consistent density and strength throughout the board, ensuring reliable performance. 

Pest Resistance: The manufacturing process typically includes chemicals that make the material resistant to pests like termites. 

Challenging Properties

Moisture Sensitivity: MDF is porous and will absorb water, leading to swelling, softening, and even breaking. It must be sealed to protect against moisture, especially in humid environments or for kitchen and bathroom applications. 

Dust Generation: Working MDF releases fine dust, which can irritate the lungs and skin, requiring proper respiratory protection and dust collection. 

Edge Weakness: While the face of the board holds screws well, the edges can be prone to splitting or delamination when screws are driven into them. 

Weight: Although denser than some woods, its high density can make it heavy to handle and install. 

• the ability to withstand cutting and scratching.
• most timbers are soft and easily cut with metal tools
• oak is quite hard for a wood
• balsa is very soft for a wood
• not to be confused with hardwoods and softwoods.

• the ability of a material to withstand being hit
• a tough material can bend and deform without breaking
• wood is a tough material as it can be dented with a hammer but not break.

• the ability of a material to last a long time
• if a wood has been properly dried and kept dry it can last for hundreds of years like oak beams in old buildings
• wet wood can rot quickly and is not durable
• some woods have natural oils which improve their durable abilities
• can be treated with preservatives to make it more durable for external use.