Table 3-2.--Common Woods--Continued
CHARACTERISTICS
USES
SOURCES
TYPE
Fine cabinet wood. Coarse-
Expensive furniture,
Eastern half of U.S.
Walnut
grained but takes beautiful finish
cabinets, interior
except Southern
when pore closed with wood
woodwork, gun stocks,
Atlantic and Gulf
filler. Medium weight, hard,
Coasts, some in New
tool handles, airplane
strong. Easily worked. Dark
Mexico, Arizona,
chocolate color. Does not warp
musical instruments.
California.
or check, brittle.
Soft, light weight, close-grained.
Boat planking, railroad
White cedar
Eastern Coast of U.S.
Exceptionally durable when
ties, shingles, siding posts,
and around Great
exposed to water. Not strong
poles.
Lakes.
enough for building construction.
Brittle, low shrinkage, generally
knotty.
Heavy, hard, strong. Medium
Boat and ship stems,
Virginias, Tennessee,
White oak
coarse-grained. Tough, dense,
sternposts, knees, sheer
Arkansas, Kentucky,
strakes, fenders, capping,
Ohio, Missouri,
Elastic, rather easy to work, but
transoms, shaft logs,
Maryland, Indiana.
shrinks and likely to check.
Light brownish grey in color with
strong furniture, tool
reddish tines. Medullary rays are
handles, crossties,
large and outstanding and
agricultural implements,
present beautiful figures when
fence posts.
quarter sawed. Receives high
polish.
Patterns, any interior job
Easy to work. Fine-grained, free
Minnesota, Wisconsin,
White pine
of knots. Takes excellent finish.
or exterior job that
Maine, Michigan,
Durable when exposed to water,
doesn't require strength,
Idaho, Montana,
expands when wet, shrinks when
window sash, interior trim,
Washington, Oregon,
dry. Soft, white. Nails without
millwork, cabinets,
California.
splitting, not very strong,
cornices.
straight-grained.
Hard, strong, heartwood is
Virginia to Texas.
Most important lumber
Yellow pine
for heavy construction and
durable in the ground. Grain
varies. Heavy, tough, reddish
exterior work, keelsons,
brown in color. resinous,
risings, filling pieces,
medullary rays well marked.
clamps, floors, bulkheads
of small boats, shores,
wedges, plugs,
strongbacks, staging, joists,
posts, piling, ties, paving
blocks.
much moisture or pitch. Such boards are difficult
LUMBER
to work with, shrink excessively, and will not keep a
smooth surface.
Woods that have a comparatively straight, close
grain, that are easy to work, and that do not warp or
A board that contains excess pitch may be
shrink easily are the woods you should select for
unusually heavy. When planed, large amounts of
pattern work. Do not select boards containing too
3-10