A hardwood named quipo cavanillesia platanifolia is commonly reported as the softest known wood with an alleged janka hardness of 22 lb f 98 n.
Is aspen wood a hardwood or softwood.
To quickly answer that question aspen is classed as a hardwood making it great for carving.
In terms of texture its grain is fine with diffuse pores.
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.
Aspen is very easy to work with and cut.
Dogwood is an extremely dense hardwood.
The contrast between sap and heartwood is small.
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.
Aspen is considered a hardwood and syp is a class of softwood species yet syp species have a higher density than aspen.
But aspen has its perks too.
When properly seasoned this wood rates a 2150 on the janka hardness scale which measures units of force.
The wood is straight grained and has a fine uniform texture.
Aspen has creamy white sapwood with heartwood that changes from brown to greyish white without any visible transition.
However the wood is omitted from this list for two main reasons.
And what is it used for.
The supposed superiority of hardwood over softwood isn t so cut and dried either.
Aspen is less prone to expansion and contraction during temperature and moisture changes in its environment as well as being less likely to warp cup or crown.
Unseasoned dogwood is considerably less hard and dense rating around 1410 on the janka scale.
By comparison white oak is rated 1360 and eastern white pine is 380.
Aspen is excellent for mouldings toys and caskets.
It does not split easily and takes nails and screws well.
What does this mean.
So despite being made of softwood syp panels are actually heavier stronger and stiffer than aspen.
But where aspen is a softer hardwood it is also noted for being extremely stable.
Although aspen is a hardwood species it is offered by the majority of softwood manufacturers.
Working properties aspen does not split when nailed it machines easily with a slightly fuzzy surface and turns bores and sands well.
But in addition to being an excellent material for wood carving aspen also has many other uses in nature and has been used widely in various industries.
The wood laser engraves and cuts great.
First it is virtually unobtainable and not commercially available outside of its natural range in central south america.
Sapwood is white blending into the light brown heartwood.
