American White Ash/Canadian Ash - Long-fibered, tight-grained, heavy hardwood with few knots. Sapwood is almost white. Heartwood is pale-brown. High bending strength.
Western Alder/Red Alder - Soft hardwood with a fine, straight-grain and even texture. Color is uniform from light tan to honey color, with no difference between heartwood and sapwood. Takes stains and finishes well. Found in West ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
American White Ash/Canadian Ash - Long-fibered, tight-grained, heavy hardwood with few knots. Sapwood is almost white. Heartwood is pale-brown. High bending strength.
Western Alder/Red Alder - Soft hardwood with a fine, straight-grain and even texture. Color is uniform from light tan to honey color, with no difference between heartwood and sapwood. Takes stains and finishes well. Found in West Coast Range from Southern British Columbia to Northern California. Fast growing and is the most abundant species of hardwood tree.
American Cherry - Hard, straight-grained hardwood with fine texture. Heartwood is red-brown to deep red. Cherry darkens with exposure to light over a period of 6-12 months.
Guatambu - Very dense exotic hardwood, available in limited quantities. It is yellow in color with a somewhat oily texture.
Pacific Madrone - Hard, heavy and strong hardwood, distinguished by a consistent salmon color, beautiful knot patterns and a smooth grain. Machines well. Found primarily in Northern California and Southern Oregon, either in highly productive timberlands or mixed hardwood woodlands.
Eastern Maple/Rock Maple/Sugar Maple - Hard, heavy, dense, straight-grained hardwood with fine texture. White sapwood with light red-brown heartwood.
Big Leaf Maple/Pacific Coast Maple - Medium density, moderately heavy, hard, and strong hardwood with a close, fine grain. Pale pinkish-brown to almost white. Uniform color and takes stains and finishes evenly. Found from Southern California to British Columbia. Fast growing, it is the second most abundant species of hardwood tree.
Myrtlewood/Baywood/Pepperwood/California Laurel - Dense hardwood in the Laurel family. Colors vary from yellow, red, brown, silver, gray and black. If figured, it will be burl, fiddleback, curl or wavy grain. This tree grows only in the Sierra Nevada and on the coasts of Southern Oregon and California.
Eastern White Oak/American White Oak - Hard, straight-grained hardwood with medium-coarse texture. Pale brown with variations in color. Takes stain well.
Oregon White Oak - Hard, heavy, and dense hardwood with distinctive two-tone straight-grained pattern. Grayish brown to dark brown heartwood that is naturally resistant to decay. Sapwood is almost white. Superior wood for machining. Found in a wide range of coastal, mountain and interior regions in Washington, Oregon and Northern California, it is a slow growing species that requires an abundance of sunlight.
Tan Oak - Hard, strong and dense hardwood with a straight grain and occasional Oak undertones. Sapwood ages to a golden, reddish brown to almost match the heartwood. Resistant to abrasion and machines well. Though not a true Oak, it shares same physical properties and botanical family. It is found in the West Coast Range, Cascade Mountains and Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Claro Black Walnut - Strong hardwood with rather coarse texture. Colors vary from reds to golds, mixed with tans, grays, purples, browns, and black. Usually straight-grained, but not always.
Softwoods: These woods are usually conifers or evergreen trees. Most of our softwoods are by-products of (done to encourage individual tree growth and reduce fire hazard) or are purchased from small independent sawmills who produce lower volumes of lumber harvested from private lands.
Incense Cedar - Lightweight, soft, straight-grained aromatic softwood with uniform texture. Color is red-brown, fading to silver-gray after long exposure to weathering. Found in the Southern Oregon, California and into West-central Nevada
Douglas Fir/British Columbian Pine - Straight-grained softwood with pronounced grain. Color is red-brown. Little shrinkage when drying.
Suppressed second-growth Douglas Fir - This softwood is generated as a by-product of forest reforestation activities. Years of fire suppression have resulted in unnaturally dense concentrations of young trees. Some of the trees are thinned to allow the stronger remaining trees to thrive. These small diameter, slow growing trees have good color, dense, tight grain and small attractive knots. The growth rings are tighter and there is little juvenile wood. (Historically, this removed wood has been chipped for paper pulp or burned on site).
Ponderosa Pine - A yellow colored softwood, found in the Pacific Northwest.
Other Wood or Wood Products:
P-lam - Particle board laminated with high-pressure laminate.
MDF - A medium density fiberboard.
