Timber Species and Grading

Fraxinus excelsior

Originates from Europe and Western Asia.

Light in colour – creamy to light tan. Heartwood and sapwood are not clearly distinguishable.

Non-durable, tough, heavy and dense timber, dries fairly rapidly and needs care to avoid degradation of the timber. Straight grain and coarse texture. Polishes well.

Wide range of uses including: sports equipment, boat building and cabinet making.

Internal use.

Fagus sylvatica

Grows widely across Europe.

Variety of colour shades from a pale whitish colour to pinkish brown. Steaming beech changes the colour to a darker reddish brown.

Wide range of uses: quality joinery, furniture manufacture, tool handles and flooring.

Internal use.

Cedrus libani

Found in the UK and Middle East.

Brown in colour, the sapwood contrasts distinctly with the heartwood. Strongly scented and resinous. Usually straight grained with fine to medium texture. Durable.

Dries easily, only a slight tendency to move. Easy to work. Soft and brittle with low strength ability. Used for joinery, doors, gates, fences and outdoor furniture.

Internal and external use.

Thuja plicata

Originates from the USA and Canada. Introduced into the UK and New Zealand.

Colour varies when fresh sawn from salmon pink to dark brown. Matures to a reddish brown and in time changes to silver grey if untreated.

Durable, but can be attacked by the common furniture beetle. Uses include shed and green house construction, shingles, cladding, exterior boarding and fences. Straight grained and coarsely textured with prominent growth rings. Works easily with hand and machine tools. Low crushing and bending strength.

Internal and external use.

Prunus Avium

Originates from Europe and Western Asia.

Reddish/pinkish brown darkening with age. Straight grained with a fairly fine and even texture. Sapwood is non-durable and can be attacked by powder post beetle, heartwood is moderately durable. Similar to oak in its strength properties.

Dries fairly quickly and can be vulnerable to warping and end-splitting if not treated with care, and therefore is used in smaller amounts for furniture manufacture, turnery, panel work and decorative joinery.

Internal use.

Castanea sativa

Widely found in Europe.

Colour pale to mid brown, similar to oak without the silver rays. The sapwood is non-durable, but the heartwood is very durable. It is difficult to dry and generally has a straight grain, with a coarse texture. Like oak, it has an acidic character which tends to corrode metal when in damp conditions. Can have blue/black marking after contact with iron/steel.

Used for furniture, kitchen utensils, cleft fencing and fencing stakes.

Internal and external use.

Pseudotsuga menziesii

Grown in Canada, USA and UK.

Heartwood is a light reddish-brown with sap being pale yellow. Straight grained but sometimes curly or wavy. The contrast between early and late wood provides prominent growth ring figure, which shows as a colour contrast on plain sawn timber.

Typically used for cladding, joinery work, roof trusses, laminated arches and beam. Moderately durable, but subject to beetle attack.

Internal and external use.

Ulmus procera

In the UK, it is only found in commercial quantities in Northern England and Scotland. This follows the decimation of elm in the South of England in the 1970’s.

Elm has a cross grain and a dull darkish brown appearance. This results in a very attractive figuring in the timber. Non-durable and subject to insect attack.

Used extensively in the furniture trade, although availability due to Dutch Elm disease is limited. Also used for flooring and weatherboarding. Internal & external use.

Terminalia ivorensis

From West Africa and also grown on plantations.

Heartwood is a very pale yellow-brown. Grain is straight to slightly interlocked and the texture is medium to fairly coarse. Generally works well, the grain picks up when planed. Heartwood is durable, but sapwood is vulnerable to insect attack.

Used for furniture and joinery.

Internal and external use.

Chlorophora excelsa

Grows in tropical Africa.

The colour of this timber can range from golden orange through to mid to dark brown. Fairly coarse texture, with moderately interlocked grain. Works satisfactorily with hand and power tools, but has abrasive properties that blunt tools quite quickly. Very durable – resistant to both rot and insect attack.

Used in the marine industry, interior and exterior joinery.

Internal and external use.

Note: The colour of Iroko can be very deceptive, it does change from yellow to chocolate brown very quickly. The yellow is not a defect.

Larix decidua

Native to central Europe.

Heartwood can be yellow to a warm reddish brown and small knots are common. The timber has lots of character and interesting growth rings. The resin in the wood can clog up saw blades.

Used for cladding, shakes and shingles, flooring and construction lumber.

Internal and external use.

Tilia vulgaris

Found throughout Europe.

Colour ranges from creamy white to a yellow colour. Lime is straight grained with a fine texture. It is a non durable, soft and light hardwood and works easily with hand tools.

Used for carving due to its soft properties, and also in the musical instrument industry. Sometimes used for turning.

Internal use.

Platanus hybrida

Found throughout Western Europe.

Heartwood is reddish brown, with very conspicuous and numerous broad 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, panelling and ornamental work. Good for woodturning.

Acer saccharum

Also known as Rock Maple, this species grows in Canada and USA.

Colour varies from pale cream to light tan. Straight grained, can sometimes be wavy or curly. Non-durable. Fine texture. Large trees sometimes have dark brown hearts.

Has high resistance to abrasion and wear, suitable for flooring, joinery and sports goods.

Internal use.

Quercus robur

Native to Europe, Turkey, North Africa.

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.

Used for beams and structures, furniture, flooring, cladding and joinery.

Internal and external use.

Olea europaea

Originally found on the Mediterranean east coast, however, it is now available beyond Europe.

Rich in colour and colours deepen with age. It tends to have very contrasting colours of yellow and brown, making it very striking. Heartwood tends to be cream/yellowish brown with black and brown contrasting streaks. Fine textured and often displays a curly or wavy grain.

Ideal for furniture and small indoor projects.

Internal use.

Liriodendron tuplipifera

From Eastern Canada and the USA.

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 turning and carving. Non-durable.

Used for furniture and interior joinery.

Health Risk – dermatitis.

Internal use.

Entandrophragma cylindricum

East, West and Central Africa.

Newly cut sapele is often a pinkish colour, this darkens to a reddish-brown or purple-brown colour. Timber is characterised by a well-defined stripe on quartered surfaces and the grain is moderately interlocked. Works well with hand and power tools.

Sapele is moderately durable and is typically used for furniture, joinery, doors and worktops.

Internal and external use.

Pinus sylvestris

This species come from a wide geographical area.

When dry the heartwood is pale reddish-brown and resinous. It varies in strength, texture, density and number and size of knots. The annual rings are clearly marked by contrasted light early wood and dark late wood growths.

Moderately durable, Scots Pine can be treated with preservatives and used externally. Used for furniture, joinery and building construction.

Internal and external use.

Acer pseudoplatanus

Found throughout Europe.

Colour ranges from white to creamy yellow. If not dried quickly enough after felling, a silver grey effect takes place as a chemical change occurs with the sugars in the timber.

Generally straight grained with a fine texture. Can be found with a wavy or rippled effect, which gives an attractive figure.

Used for flooring, furniture, turnimg and musical instruments.

Internal use.

Entandrophragma utile

Grows in West, East and Central Africa.

Pink-brown when first cut, it changes to a deep red-brown. Grain is interlocked to irregular with a wide striped figure on quartered surfaces. Moderate texture. Heavy density. Durable.

Used for furniture and cabinet making, high quality joinery, work/counter tops.

Internal and external use.

Juglans nigra

Grows in Canada and USA.

Rich, dark brown to purplish black. Tough hard timber, medium density, coarse texture, straight grain. Heartwood is durable.

Used for high quality joinery, furniture and cabinet making, boat building and for decorative veneers and inlays.

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.

Internal and external use.

Juglans regia

Europe, Turkey and South West Asia.

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 and carving.

Internal use.

Taxus Baccata

Found throughout Europe and North Africa.

The sapwood and heartwood are strikingly different, with the sapwood being white and the heartwood dark golden brown, sometimes streaked with a purple. The grain is straight, with a fine texture. Toxic to humans – always use a good dust mask.

Used traditionally for bow staves by English Bowmen, yew is now primarily used for furniture making and woodturning.

Internal and external use.