Balsa Is A Hardwood

Being a deciduous angiosperm balsa is classified as a hardwood despite the wood itself being very soft.

Balsa is a hardwood.

The hardwood softwood terminology does make some sense. And like balsa wood it s best to glue it together. It is also very light of the questions choices mixture would be the best fit. The name balsa comes from the spanish word for raft.

But as the classification of balsa wood demonstrates there is no minimum weight requirement to become a hardwood. This wood is far from the other hardwood that you can see in the market since it has more water in it. Unlike balsa wood basswood doesn t grow quickly. 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 trees are harvested after six to 10 years of growth. The green balsa wood is the one that contains five times more water by weight than the actual wood substance. Balsa lumber is very soft and light with a coarse open grain. Hardwood trees are angiosperms mostly decidous in the northern hemisphere but evergreens in the southern hemisphere while softwoods are conifers.

The balsa wood has a solid volume that only consists of 40 of the entire tree. The terms hardwood and softwood don t relate to the weight or density of the wood but to the tree type. It is the softest commercial 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.

Larger boards and lumber sold through typical hardwood dealers is hard to find but generally has a better cost per board foot than other sources. That said basswood supposedly never splinter or crack. High quality balsa that is balsa with a very low density can be rather expensive when purchased at hobby stores or other specialty outlets. 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.

You ll see why below but it really has nothing to do with the density of the wood. Balsa is a hardwood because of its broad leaves and its flowers it is the softest commercially harvested hardwood.