Is Balsa Wood A Hardwood

The balsa wood has a solid volume that only consists of 40 of the entire tree.

Is balsa wood a hardwood.

Balsa wood is the lightest and softest commercial hardwood timber. Balsa is classified as a hardwood and is actually the softest commercial hardwood available. The term hardwood has nothing to do with the hardness of the timber it relates to the closeness of the grain. The balsa tree ochroma pyramidale is a fast growing hardwood tree which grows extremely well in the in sub tropical rain forests of ecuador.

White to oatmeal in colour with high silky lustre. Hardwood trees are angiosperms mostly decidous in the northern hemisphere but evergreens in the southern hemisphere while softwoods are conifers. The term hardwood has nothing to do with the hardness of the timber it relates to the closeness of the grain. This wood is far from the other hardwood that you can see in the market since it has more water in it.

Hardwood is a tightly grained timber such as eucalyptus or balsa wood. The trees are harvested after six to 10 years of growth. Over 90 of commercial balsa wood is exported from ecuador. It is the softest commercial hardwood.

Being a deciduous angiosperm balsa is classified as a hardwood despite the wood itself being very soft. High quality balsa that is balsa with a very low density can be rather expensive when purchased at hobby stores or other specialty outlets. 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. The name balsa comes from the spanish word for raft.

The terms hardwood and softwood don t relate to the weight or density of the wood but to the tree type. Density 160 120 220 kgm3 commercially preferred density range 120 160kgm3. 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.