Is Balsa Wood A Hardwood Or A Softwood

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.

Is balsa wood a hardwood or a softwood.

Balsa has excellent sound heat and vibration insulating properties and is also incredibly buoyant. The balsa tree is deciduous and classified as an angiosperm which is the same classification as a hardwood such as an oak tree. In fact balsa is the spanish word for raft. Broad leafed flowering trees are hardwoods.

Likewise balsa wood is classified as a hardwood and yet it s one of the least dense and softest types of. The name balsa comes from the spanish word for raft. Balsa lumber is very soft and light with a coarse open grain. Being a deciduous angiosperm balsa is classified as a hardwood despite the wood itself being very soft.

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. But the difference between these two types of wood isn t in their name. Yet despite its softness balsa is technically classified as a hardwood rather than a softwood since it has broad leaves and is not a conifer. The hardwood softwood terminology does make some sense.

Hardwood trees are angiosperms mostly decidous in the northern hemisphere but evergreens in the southern hemisphere while softwoods are conifers. For example balsa wood which is known as one of the lightest woods in the world is actually a hardwood. That is hardwood isn t necessarily denser than softwood. It is the softest commercial hardwood.

See wikipedia for more information about balsa. There are many more types of hardwood trees than there are softwood. The distinction between the two woods lies within their reproduction. 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.

The terms hardwood and softwood don t relate to the weight or density of the wood but to the tree type. For instance yew wood is classified as a softwood but is considerably tougher than certain hardwoods. Although the wood of a balsa tree is soft balsa is a hardwood. But as the classification of balsa wood demonstrates there is no minimum weight requirement to become a hardwood.

Balsa wood is very soft and light and is commonly used in model aeroplane building but it is not technically classified as a softwood.