Ash

Fraxinus excelsior - European. Whitish grey, with yellow markings. Very tough and elastic. Straight grain, course texture. Not durable when exposed to weather and subject to insect attack. Excellent for steam bending. Polishes well.

Ash, American

Fraxinus americana - Very little difference in characteristics to the European variety.

Cedar of Lebanon

Cedrus libani - Strongly scented and resinous. Soft and brittle with low strength ability. Easy to work with good durability and resistance to insect attack. Suitable for joinery uses.

Cedar, Western Red

Thuja plicata - Straight grained, coarsely textured with prominent growth rings. Considerable colour variation in heartwood when fresh from dark brown to salmon pink. Low crushing and bending strength. Works easily with hand & machine tools. Durable, but can be attacked by common furniture beetle. Resistant to preservative treatment. Used for exterior cladding, shingles, sheds, posts and some internal uses.

Cherry

Prunus avium - Heartwood is pale pinkish-brown, straight grained with fairly fine and even texture. Very good wood bending classification. It is similar to Oak in its strength properties. Mildly durable, used mainly for internal furniture and cabinetmaking, turnery, veneers etc.

Cherry, American

 Prunus serotina - Generally darker in appearance to the European variety, with similar characteristics.

Chestnut

Castanea sativa - Pale brown to biscuit in colour, very similar to Oak, without the silver grain figure of Oak due to finer rays. Has an acidic character and tends to corrode metal when in contact in damp conditions. Can have blue-black staining after contact with iron/steel in moist conditions. Sapwood is liable to beetle attack, but heartwood is durable. Used for furniture turnery, cleft fencing, stakes and many other uses.

Douglas Fir

 Pseudotsuga menziesii - Heartwood is a light reddish brown shade, and the contrast between early and late wood provides prominent growth ring figure, which shows and abrupt colour contrast on plain sawn timber. Easy to work. Moderately durable, but subject to beetle attack. Various uses in building construction, internal and external joinery.

Elm

Ulmus procera - Heartwood colour is a dull brown, with a course texture. Not an easy timber to work, it is non-durable and is subject to insect attack. Used for cabinet work and furniture making, can be used for weatherboarding.

Garapa

Apuleia leiocarpa - South American timber, heartwood is maily yellowish in colour. This can vary from yellow-brown to pinkish -yellow. When exposed to the elements it can acquire a reddish or coppery hue. It is easy to machine and work, smooth finish and is durable. Currently we only stock this species in decking form.

Greenheart

Octea rodiani - An evergreen tree, varies in colour from yellow-green to golden-yellow, light olive through to almost black. Texture is fine and even. Used extensively for sea defence work due to its high durability and resistance to marine borers. Also used for bridges, heavy duty flooring or decking.

Idigbo

Terminalia ivorensis - Pale yellow-brown. Straight to slightly irregular grain with interlocking. Texture medium to course. Sapwood is liable to beetle attack, heartwood is durable. Used in furniture and high class joinery for interior and exterior uses.

Iroko

Chlorophora excelsa - Golden orange to brown in colour, lighter vessel lines are conspicuous on flat sawn surfaces. Heartwood very durable, but sapwwod liable to beetle attack. Used in ship and boat building, interior and exterior joinery, furniture and worktops.

Lime

Tilia vulgaris - Cream yellow, maturing to yellow-brown to pale-brown. Straight grained, fine texture. Works easily. Heartwood is perisable, but permeable to preservative treatment. Traditionaly used for wood carving, it has the ability to resist splitting in any direction. Also used for cutting boards in the leather industry as it will not draw or bias the knife away from the cutting direction.

London Plane (Lacewood)

Platanus hybrida - Heartwood reddish brown, with very conspicuous and numerous braod rays present on quartered face. This shows on the lighter background as a decorative fleck. Works well with hand and machine tools. Perishable, but is permeable to preservation treatment. Used for cabinetmaking, furniture, paneling and ornamental work. Good for woodturning.

Maple

Acer saccharum - Creamy-white with a reddish tinge. Large trees sometimes have a dark brown heart. Usually straight grained, but sometimes curly or wavy. Has high resistance to abrasion and wear. Is used for heavy duty flooring, furniture and paneling. Various other uses including butchers blocks and cutting boards.

Massaranduba

Manilkara bidentata - From West Indies, Central & Northern South America. The heartwood can vary between light red to rose red when freshly cut, turning dark reddish brown on exposure. The texture is fine and uniform, the wood is hard, heavy and very dense. Difficult to dry. Has similar strength characteristics to Greenheart. Very durable. Is used in Heavy construction, bridges, heavy wear flooring/decking. Currently stocked as decking, but sawn stock is generally available.

Oak, European

Quercus Robur - Light tan to biscuit in colour, usually straight grained, but irregular or cross grained material can occur depending on growth conditions. Characteristic silver grain figure on quartered surfaces. Dries very slowly, with a tendency to split and check. Heartwood very durable. The acidic nature of Oak can cause corrosion when in contact with metals, blue-black staining can occur in damp conditions when in contact with iron/steel, or when fresh sawn due to the chemical reaction with steel saws.

W.L.West & Sons Ltd - European Oak Grading

We aim to meet our customers needs to the best of our abilities. To assist customers in making the correct selection of grades, we have put together a guide to the grades of European Oak available. (Subject to availability) This guide has been put together in the absence of any UK standards on the grading of timber - to date.

Veneer Grade

• Clear of all knots on all four faces
• Generally quartered/billet sawn
• Not necessarily colour matched
• Straight grained
• No sapwood
• No Brown stain

First Quality

 

• Graded on 1 edge and 1 face with 2m x 150mm being the benchmark size
• Sap - no more than 10% of reverse face
• Knots of upto 25mm in diameter but no more than one per 2 metres
• Frequency of knots may be greater for thicknesses of 65mm & up
• Pin knots of up to 4mm, with an accumulative area not more than 50mm in 2 metres
• Some colouration
• No Brown stain
• Excludes - Shake and dead knots (and heart centre in square edge)

1 - 2 grade

Some 1st quality, some 2nd quality-will include:

• Sap wood one face,  no more than 25% of surface
• Sound knots, on no more than 25% of the width of the board
• Cross grain included, also ‘Cats Paw’ small growths/pin knots
• Can include some discolouration, brown streaking/colour allowed
• Excludes-shake, dead knots, & dead sap

Pippy grade (very limited supply)

 

• Will have clusters of Pin Knots (Cats Paw) repeated throughout
• Sound knots of upto 50mm but no more than one per 2 metres in its length
• Possibility of colour variation
• Exclude-shake, dead knots

Oak, American White

Quercus alba - Varies in colour from yellow brown to biscuit with pinkish tint. Similar in characteristics to European Oak.

Oak, American Red,

Quercus rubra - Similar to other Oaks but has a reddish tinge.

Poplar. American

Liriodendron tuplipifera - Pale olive-green to brown, can be light yellow to tan. Usually straight grained. Low resistance to shock loads, low bending strength. easy to work with hand and machine tools. It does not mould well, but is good for turnery and carving. Non-Durable.

Health Risk - dermatitis

Sapele

 Entandrophragma cylindricum - Medium to dark reddish brown in colour, characterized by a well defined striped figure on quartered surfaces. Works well with hand and machine tools. Moderately durable. Used in quality furniture and cabinetmaking, joinery, shop fitting, office furniture and doors. Also used in the marine industry.

Scots Pine

Pinus sylvestris - This species come from a wide geographical area, varies the strength, texture, density and number and size of knots. When dry the heartwood is pale reddish-brown and resinous. The annual rings are clearly marked by contrasted light earlywood and dark latewood growths. Non-durable, used for furniture, joinery and building construction.

Southern Yellow Pine

Pinus strobes - Pale yellow in colour. Soft and very stable. Non-durable. Has a variety of uses including, joinery and carpentry, furniture making and boat building.

Sycamore

Acer pseudoplatanus - White to creamy white with a natural luster. Straight grained, but often curly or wavy producing attractive figure on quartered sufaces. The grain in fine and even and can sometimes have a lacy figure due to conspicuous rays. Perishable. Used for turnery, furniture, domestic flooring, worktops to name a few.

Teak

Tectona grandis - Teak  originally comes from Burma, Thailand and Java, it is a uniform golden brown colour without markings. Other Teak is rich brown with chocolate-brown markings. Indian Teak is wavy grained and mottled, but generally straight to wavy grained and course textured, oily to the touch. Plantation grown Teak is now being grown in various locations around the world. Very durable. Used extensively in the marine industry, interior and exterior joinery, flooring and garden furniture.

Tulipwood (Poplar)

Liriodendron tulipifera - Variable colour from grayish white through yellow to green in the same piece. Soft, light, non-durable. Stains and polishes well. Used for joinery and cabinet work.

Utilie

Entandrophragma utile - Heartwood matures from pink-brown when fresh to deep red-brown. Grain is interlocked to rather irregular, producing a wide irregular striped figure on quartered surfaces. Durable. Used for furniture, cabinetmaking, counter/work tops and general construction work.

Walnut

Juglans regia - European Walnut is very scarce in supply. Usually a grey brown with stripes of darker colouring irregularly distributed as streaks of darker brown. Moderately durable. This is a very attractive timber, used in veneer and furniture making, cabinetmaking, carving and many other uses.

Walnut, American Black

Juglans neotropica - Beautiful dark brown in colour, with a blackish striped figure. Moderately durable. Used in furniture and cabinetmaking, flooring, turnery and many other uses.

PLEASE NOTE:

Walnut trees are small in diameter which means that joinery sizes are difficult to obtain. The wood is variable and includes sapwood which is lighter in colour than the heartwood. The presence of sapwood and knots are not considered defects under the American Lumber Grading Rules.

Yew

Taxus baccata - A very attractive timber which is a golden orange-brown colour, streaked with dark brown-mauve in patches. Small knots are evident. Durable. Used for centuries by the bowman of England, it is more commonly now used for turnery, furniture making, cabinetwork and sometimes flooring.