The Softest Hardwood

Similarly wood from the yew tree which is one of the toughest woods and is harder than most types of oak is classified as softwood.

The softest 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. On a hardness scale alder ranks just above pine and poplar. A hardwood named quipo cavanillesia platanifolia is commonly reported as the softest known wood with an alleged janka hardness of 22 lb f 98 n. 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.

However the wood is omitted from this list for two main reasons. Although classified as a hardwood alder is one of the softest of all hardwoods and is more commonly referred to as a semi hardwood. The hardest commercially available hardwood is hickory and it is five times harder than aspen one of the soft hardwoods. Wood is categorized as either softwood or hardwood based on physical structure and makeup.

Because hardness is an important factor and hardness. First it is virtually unobtainable and not commercially available outside of its natural range in central south america.