Lesson 7:
Types of woods
a) Natural hardwoods
Hardwood is extracted from slow-growing trees, this is what makes them stronger and tougher but also more expensive. They are mainly used to manufacture high quality furniture, for flooring houses and to make musical instruments.
Walnut
Oak
Cherry
Ebony
b) Natural softwoods
Softwoods are those that come from fast-growing trees. They are the most used for its lower cost in a great number of applications: from construction, to manufacture furniture, to make paper and to make artificial woods.
Pine
Poplar
c) Artificial woods
Plywood
Plywood is made from thin wood sheets glued together under heat and pressure. Plywood is stronger and more durable than chipboard (the other type of artificial wood that we will study).
Chipboard
It’s a flat board composed of small particles or chips of wood that are glued together and then pressed under heat. In general, it has worse properties than plywood, but it is much cheaper, which is the reason why it is so much used.
Chipboard is frequently coated with a thin plastic layer (usually melamine) to make all kinds of furniture that resemble natural wood.
*Just the part about woods.