Is Balsa Wood A Hardwood

Hardwood trees are angiosperms mostly decidous in the northern hemisphere but evergreens in the southern hemisphere while softwoods are conifers.

Is balsa wood a hardwood.

Being a deciduous angiosperm balsa is classified as a hardwood despite the wood itself being very soft. White to oatmeal in colour with high silky lustre. The balsa tree ochroma pyramidale is a fast growing hardwood tree which grows extremely well in the in sub tropical rain forests of ecuador. Hardwood is a tightly grained timber such as eucalyptus or balsa wood.

The term hardwood has nothing to do with the hardness of the timber it relates to the closeness of the grain. Density 160 120 220 kgm3 commercially preferred density range 120 160kgm3. Over 90 of commercial balsa wood is exported from ecuador. It is the softest commercial hardwood.

Balsa wood is the lightest and softest commercial hardwood timber. Strength and stiffness approximately 50 that of baltic pine pinus sylvestris. This wood is far from the other hardwood that you can see in the market since it has more water in it. Balsa lumber is very soft and light with a coarse open grain.

Balsa is classified as a hardwood and is actually the softest commercial hardwood available. High quality balsa that is balsa with a very low density can be rather expensive when purchased at hobby stores or other specialty outlets. The green balsa wood is the one that contains five times more water by weight than the actual wood substance. There are many more types of hardwood trees than there are softwood.

The trees are harvested after six to 10 years of growth. The name balsa comes from the spanish word for raft. The balsa wood has a solid volume that only consists of 40 of the entire tree. Hardwood is a tightly grained timber such as eucalyptus or balsa wood.