Is Balsa Wood A Hardwood Or Softwood

For instance yew wood is classified as a softwood but is considerably tougher than certain hardwoods.

Is balsa wood a hardwood or softwood.

The balsa tree is deciduous and classified as an angiosperm which is the same classification as a hardwood such as an oak tree. Balsa wood is very soft and light and is commonly used in model aeroplane building but it is not technically classified as a softwood. But the difference between these two types of wood isn t in their name. Yet despite its softness balsa is technically classified as a hardwood rather than a softwood since it has broad leaves and is not a conifer.

There are many more types of hardwood trees than there are softwood. Surprising though it may seem balsa is a 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. The name balsa comes from the spanish word for raft.

Balsa lumber is very soft and light with a coarse open grain. Evergreens do tend to be less dense than deciduous trees and therefore easier to cut while most hardwoods tend to be more dense and therefore sturdier. The trees are harvested after six to 10 years of growth. Although the wood of a balsa tree is soft balsa is a hardwood.

It is the softest commercial hardwood. Balsa has excellent sound heat and vibration insulating properties and is also incredibly buoyant. The hardwood softwood terminology does make some sense. 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.

The actual hardness or density of the wood has little to do with the classification. Likewise balsa wood is classified as a hardwood and yet it s one of the least dense and softest types of. Being a deciduous angiosperm balsa is classified as a hardwood despite the wood itself being very soft. In fact balsa is the spanish word for raft.

But as the classification of balsa wood demonstrates there is no minimum weight requirement to become a hardwood. That is hardwood isn t necessarily denser than softwood. Broad leafed flowering trees are hardwoods. Is the wood balsa a softwood or hardwood.