Hardwood Wood
Broad-leaved North American species, with the density figure that decides what each one is good for.
What this group isthe rule that puts a species here
Hardwood is a botanical grouping, not a claim about the surface. These are species from broad-leaved trees — the ones that shed their leaves — as opposed to the conifers in the softwood group. The distinction is in the wood's cell structure: hardwoods carry vessels, which is what gives oak and ash their open, visible grain, and softwoods do not.
That cell structure is why the label tells you very little about whether a given board is hard. Balsa is in this group at 0.16 g/cm³ and marks if you press a fingernail into it; longleaf pine is in the softwood group at 0.55 g/cm³ and will dent a chisel. Read the density on each entry, and treat the group name as a family label.
What the group does reliably predict is how the timber behaves under a tool. Vessels and rays mean hardwoods generally plane to a cleaner surface, take a thread better and glue more predictably than softwoods — which is why furniture, cabinetwork and anything that needs a cut thread is normally specified from this list rather than from across it.
Where the line fallscases this grouping does not settle
- Species native to North America. Imported hardwoods are in the Exotic group instead — the split there is origin, not botany, so a teak entry would qualify as a hardwood as well.
- Engineered sheet products are excluded even when they are made from hardwood species, because their density comes from the binder and the pressing rather than from a species.
Broad-leaved trees native to North America. A botanical grouping, not a hardness scale — balsa sits here and is far softer than any softwood.
Densityevery hardwood entry, heaviest first
All wood- Hickory — 0.82 g/cm³ · 820 kg/m³
- Oak — 0.75 g/cm³ · 750 kg/m³
- Beech (American) — 0.72 g/cm³ · 720 kg/m³
- Maple (Hard Maple) — 0.705 g/cm³ · 705 kg/m³
- Birch (Yellow Birch) — 0.69 g/cm³ · 690 kg/m³
- Ash (White) — 0.67 g/cm³ · 670 kg/m³
- Walnut (Black) — 0.66 g/cm³ · 660 kg/m³
- Cherry (Black) — 0.56 g/cm³ · 560 kg/m³
- Poplar (Yellow) — 0.42 g/cm³ · 420 kg/m³
- Basswood — 0.42 g/cm³ · 420 kg/m³
Density profilevs water 1.00 · aluminium 2.70
Frequently asked questionsabout the hardwood group
Is hardwood a statement about hardness?
No. It is a botanical split — broad-leaved trees versus conifers. Balsa is a hardwood at 0.16 g/cm³ and longleaf pine is a softwood at 0.55 g/cm³, so the label on its own tells you nothing about the surface. Use the density figure for anything load bearing.
What does the density figure actually let me do?
Turn a size into a weight. Multiply the volume by the density and you have a shipping or support estimate before anything is cut — the lumber size database does that arithmetic for all 18 nominal sizes across every species in this database, so you can read the figure off directly rather than working it out.
How should I read these densities?
As reference figures for air-dried stock at roughly 12% moisture content, not as a specification for a delivery. Density varies with growth rate, origin and moisture, so treat a single board as being within about ten percent of the figure either way — and remember green timber can be half again as heavy.
Other groupshow the four splits differ
Softwood
Conifers — the structural timbers. Reference density at air-dried moisture content, and what each one is specified for.
Open Softwood →Exotic
Imported hardwoods, grouped the way they are bought and sold — by origin, not by botany.
Open Exotic →Engineered
Sheet and laminated products rather than a tree. Density comes from the binder and the press, not from a species.
Open Engineered →