Table 3-2.--Common Woods--Continued
CHARACTERISTICS
USES
SOURCES
TYPE
Very much like walnut in color
Toys, altars, woodenware,
Southern Canada,
Butternut
but softer. Not so soft as white
millwork, interior trim,
Minnesota, Eastern
furniture, boats, scientific
pine and basswood. Easy to
U.S. as far south as
work, coarse-grained, fairly
instruments.
Alabama and Florida.
strong.
Many characteristics similar to
Small boat planking,
Maryland to Texas,
Cypress
white cedar. Water-resistant
siding, shingles, sash,
along Mississippi
doors, tanks, silos, railway
qualities make it excellent for use
Valley to Illinois.
as boat planking.
ties.
Excellent structural lumber.
Patternmaking, deck
Pacific Coast, British
Doulgas fir
Strong, easy to work, clear
planking on large ships,
Columbia.
straight grained, soft but brittle.
shores, strongbacks, plugs,
Heartwood is durable in contact
filling pieces and
with ground. Best structural
bulkheads of small boats,
timber of northwest.
building construction,
dimension timber,
plywood.
Slippery, heavy, hard, tough.
Agricultural implements,
States east of
Elm
Durable, difficult to split, not
wheel-stock, boats,
Colorado.
resistant to decay.
furniture, crossties, posts,
poles.
Very heavy, hard, stronger and
Tools, handles, wagon
Arkansas, Tennessee,
Hickory
tougher than other native wood,
stock, hoops, baskets,
Ohio, Kentucky.
but checks and shrinks. Difficult
vehicles, wagon spokes.
to work. Subject to decay and
insect attack.
Dark greenish brown. Unusually
Patternmaking, block
Central America.
Lignum
hard, close-grained, very heavy,
vitae
resinous. Difficult to split and
water-exposed shaft
work, has soapy feeling.
and ships, tool handles,
small turned articles, and
mallet heads.
Very heavy, hard, tough, strong,
Implements, wagons,
Southern Atlantic and
Live oak
durable. Difficult to work. Light
shipbuilding.
Gulf Coasts of U.S.,
brown or yellow sap wood nearly
Oregon, California.
white.
Brown to red color. One of
Honduras, Mexico,
Patternmaking, furniture,
Mahogany
most useful of cabinet woods,
boats, decks, fixtures,
Central America,
hard, durable. Does not split
interior trim in expensive
Florida, West Indies,
badly. Open-grained, takes
homes, musical
Central Africa, other
beautiful finish when grain is
instruments.
tropical sections.
filled but checks, swells, shrinks,
warps slightly.
3-8