The national hardwood lumber association governs the standard grading system of hardwoods in the united states.
Is 2x4 hardwood or softwood.
Way back when a 2x4 was actually an inch and 3 4 by 3 and 3 4.
However in light of the spectacular review it got in this forum i am leary of using it in the winter time.
The general idea behind western platform framing is you need to be light with redundancy.
Hardwood trees take longer to mature so their density tends to be more expensive than softwood species.
There are four possible hardwood lumber grades.
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.
It comes from a coniferous tree which is one that has needles instead of leaves and is green all year round in other words an evergreen the wood from conifers is classified as softwood because with a few exceptions it s softer than the wood from deciduous trees which is classified as hardwood.
The hardwood softwood terminology does make some sense.
Hardwood is thus best suited for fine woodworking like cabinetry furniture and flooring.
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.
Softwoods are coniferous evergreen trees like cedar pine fir and spruce.
It is true that many hardwoods are more difficult to machine than softwoods however the distinction actually has nothing to do with the hardness or workability.
Actually we use hardwood for our 2x4 and 4x4 cribbing sections and soft wood for our step chocks.
Only about 25 of softwoods are used in woodworking.
A softwood 2x4 from the lumberyard will measure 1 1 2 x 3 1 2 because it has a smooth planed surface.
Hardwood lumber classification and grading is much simpler than softwood lumber.
But as the classification of balsa wood demonstrates there is no minimum weight requirement to become a hardwood.
Green hardwood lumber purchased directly from a sawmill can seem reasonably priced but by the time it s been kiln dried and planed smooth it can end up being quite expensive.
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.
For hardwoods appearance is the primary factor in grading.
Softwood general term used to describe lumber produced from needle and or cone bearing trees conifers hardwood a general term referring to any variety of broad leaved deciduous trees and the wood from those trees.
It is a common misconception that hardwoods are called hardwood because the wood is hard while softwood is so named because they are soft.
They sized down because of engineering tolerances that showed the sheathing plywood or osb on the outside of the rough framing improved things to the point where they could size down the.
