Exploring North American Timber: 6 Exceptional Species for Furniture, Joinery & Cladding

Whether you’re crafting high-end decorative pieces, building kitchen doors, or cladding your home, there’s a North American timber that perfectly suits your project.

In this guide, we’ll explore six popular North American wood species - some well-known, others less familiar - each offering unique qualities for furniture makers, joiners, and construction projects.

1. American Black Walnut

A perfect example of the striking combination of Oak and Black Walnut with this stunning chopping board created by Wood’n Designs.

American Black Walnut Timber is a sought-after North American hardwood prized for its beautiful, figured grain patterns and striking colour variations, ranging from pale brown to rich dark chocolate with darker streaks. It’s strong, naturally shock resistant, and has excellent dimensional stability, making it a premium choice for fine woodworking.

Hugely popular among furniture makers and joiners, its good working characteristics, coupled with its deep, luxurious colouration, put the wood in a class of its own among temperate hardwoods. American Black Walnut wood is commonly used in the UK and worldwide for high-end furniture, veneering, cutting boards, and bespoke decorative joinery.

Summary:

• Strengths: Strong, shock resistant, dimensionally stable

• Workability: Excellent machining and finishing properties

• Common uses: Furniture, veneer, cutting boards, decorative joinery

2. American Hard Maple

American hardwoods like Black Walnut and Hard Maple are renowned for their toughness, stability, and long life.

The clue is in the name – American Hard Maple timber is harder, stronger and denser than all other maple species. Sourced from sustainably managed hardwood forests in North America, this light-coloured timber is renowned for its delicate pale tones, attractive grain patterns and fine texture.

The wood carves beautifully and is easy to cut, turn and finish. It’s a popular choice in the UK and internationally for furniture due to its durability and natural appearance. Hard Maple is also widely used for cutting boards (where it contrasts brilliantly with American Black Walnut) and in the construction of high-quality musical instruments.

Summary:

• Strengths: Hard, durable, long-lasting

• Workability: Carves, cuts, turns and finishes easily

• Common uses: Furniture, chopping boards, musical instruments

3. Poplar (also known as Tulipwood)

Poplar is renowned for being affordable, without compromising on durability.

Poplar timber, also known as Tulipwood, is an affordable North American hardwood named after its tulip-shaped flowers. Strong and stable, the heartwood ranges from a creamy-yellow to a light olive or brown shade.

Poplar machines well and takes paint easily, making it ideal for interior fittings that require a smooth painted finish. This versatile wood is widely used for doors, kitchen cabinets, panelling and mouldings in the UK joinery and furniture-making industries.

Summary:

• Strengths: Affordable, strong, stable

• Workability: Machines easily, excellent for painted finishes

• Common uses: Internal joinery, kitchen cabinetry, panelling, mouldings

4. Eastern White Cedar

Eastern White Cedar Shingles are a great option for individuals seeking a cost-effective and durable softwood for their home.

Although Eastern White Cedar timber is light and soft, it is naturally resistant to decay and weathering, requiring very little maintenance. With no tannins that can cause discolouration, it is a long-lasting and reliable softwood.

This makes Eastern White Cedar a popular choice for shingles, where it offers a cost-effective, durable and attractive roofing and cladding solution. The pale tones give properties a distinctive New England look, making it a favourite for exterior architecture.

Summary:

• Strengths: Naturally resistant to decay and weather, low maintenance

• Workability: Lightweight, easy to machine

• Common uses: Shingles, roofing, exterior cladding

5. Western Red Cedar

Garden Room Western Red Cedar Cladding by InsideOut Carpentry

The huge Western Red Cedar is a commercially important and sustainably grown North American softwood. Canadian Western Red Cedar is stable, lightweight and naturally durable, with its distinctive reddish colouring and strong aromatic scent when worked.

It is the No. 1 choice in the UK for external cladding on houses, garden buildings and home offices. At WL West Timber, we supply cladding boards in a variety of sawn and machined profiles, as well as shakes and shingles. While Western Red Cedar may be more expensive than other softwoods, its long lifespan and low maintenance make it excellent value for money in the long term.

Summary:

• Strengths: Stable, lightweight, naturally durable

• Workability: Easy to machine, aromatic scent when cut

• Common uses: External cladding, garden buildings, shingles, home offices

6. Sassafras Timber

Sassafras heartwood darkens as the timber ages.

The leaves, root bark and wood of the Sassafras tree have a long history of use in root beer, traditional remedies and craft products. Recognisable by its three-lobed leaves and vibrant autumn foliage, Sassafras is also valued for its timber.

The heartwood is light to medium brown, sometimes with orange or olive tones, and darkens with age. Sassafras timber is easy to work, dimensionally stable and finishes well, giving it excellent versatility. The wood also has a distinctive spicy, lemony scent when cut. It is most often used for turned items such as bowls, as well as for bespoke furniture pieces.

Summary:

• Strengths: Stable, lightweight, attractive colour

• Workability: Easy to work, finishes well, unique spicy scent

• Common uses: Turned items, furniture, decorative joinery

Purchasing North American Timber in the UK

It’s important to purchase your timber from a reputable and sustainable supplier. You can confidently source your wood from us here WL West Timber, knowing that you are supporting sustainable forestry.

As members of Timber Development UK we are signatories to the mandatory Responsible Purchasing Policy which is audited annually. By completing this process, it meets our responsibility under the UK Timber Regulations to prove the legality of the timber that we supply. Risk assessments of our suppliers is undertaken as part of this process to ensure that we rule out any risk of illegally produced timber entering into the supply chain.

If you’re interested in sourcing any of these North American hardwoods and softwoods, contact our expert team today for support with your purchase.