Wood Guide: Explore, Compare, and Choose the Right Wood

ExploreWood is a practical wood guide for learning about wood species, understanding the properties that affect performance, and choosing suitable materials for different projects. Explore individual species, compare characteristics such as hardness and durability, and learn how grain, workability, and intended use can influence your choice.

Start with the Wood Database if you already have a species in mind, or use the guides below to explore wood by properties, applications, and characteristics.

Explore the Wood Database

When you want information about a particular species, the Wood Database is the best place to start. Each profile brings together technical and practical information that can help you understand how a wood looks, performs, and is commonly used.

Browse the complete Wood Database to research individual species and compare the characteristics that matter for your project. The database is designed for species-level research, while this guide provides a broader starting point for understanding wood, evaluating important properties, and making informed material choices.

Understand Wood Properties

Wood species can differ substantially in strength, appearance, durability, and behavior during woodworking. Understanding a few core properties makes it easier to compare materials based on the demands of a project rather than appearance alone.

Hardness and Density

Hardness describes a wood's resistance to indentation or denting, while density measures mass relative to volume. They are related characteristics, but they are not interchangeable. The Janka hardness test is commonly used to compare resistance to indentation, making it useful when evaluating woods for applications where dent resistance matters. Surface wear and scratch resistance are separate considerations and can also be influenced by factors such as the finish and conditions of use.

For example, dense species such as Ipe and Cocobolo are considerably harder than lightweight woods such as Basswood. Higher hardness, however, does not automatically make a species better for every project.

Grain, Color, and Texture

Grain describes the arrangement and direction of wood fibers, while texture reflects characteristics such as the size and distribution of visible structural features. Together with natural color and figure, these characteristics strongly influence appearance and can also affect how a material behaves during machining and finishing.

Some woods are particularly valued for visual character. Purpleheart is known for its distinctive heartwood color, while Curly Maple is valued for a figured pattern that can produce a rippled, three-dimensional appearance. Curly maple is not a separate species; the figure can occur in different maple species.

Durability and Stability

Durability generally refers to a wood's ability to resist biological deterioration under particular exposure conditions. Dimensional stability is different: it describes how much wood tends to change dimensions as its moisture content changes. A species may perform well in one respect without being exceptional in the other.

These distinctions matter when choosing materials for demanding environments. Naturally durable woods such as Teak and Ipe are widely associated with exterior applications, but good material selection should still account for construction details, moisture exposure, movement, and maintenance.

Workability

Workability describes how a wood responds to cutting, shaping, sanding, fastening, gluing, and finishing. Hardness is only part of the equation. Grain direction, density, natural oils, silica, and other characteristics can affect how easily a species can be worked and how quickly it wears cutting tools.

Basswood, for example, is relatively soft and easy to carve, while very dense tropical hardwoods can demand sharper tools and more careful machining. Workability should therefore be considered alongside performance and appearance when selecting wood.

Choose the Right Wood for Your Project

The best wood depends on what the finished project needs to do. Instead of choosing a species from a single measurement such as hardness, consider the combination of wear, moisture exposure, appearance, workability, dimensional movement, budget, and local availability. These factors help narrow the options before considering the specific demands of each application.

Furniture

Furniture woods need an appropriate balance of appearance, strength, stability, and workability. Decorative character may be important for visible pieces, while machining and finishing behavior become especially relevant for detailed joinery. Cost and availability can also influence the practical choice, especially when a project requires substantial quantities of lumber. Species such as Sapele and Mango Wood are used for furniture, while highly distinctive woods may be selected when visual impact is a priority.

Outdoor Projects

Exterior applications place greater emphasis on decay resistance, moisture-related behavior, appropriate construction, and maintenance. Teak has a long history of use in outdoor furniture and marine applications, while Ipe is widely used for decking and other demanding exterior projects. Even naturally durable wood benefits from proper design and installation.

Flooring

Hardness and resistance to denting are useful considerations for flooring, but they should not be treated as the only selection criteria. Dimensional stability, local conditions, installation method, finish, expected traffic, budget, and material availability can all influence the final choice. Comparing Janka values can help narrow the options, but the final decision should consider the broader performance requirements of the project.

Carving and Woodworking

For carving and detailed hand-tool work, predictable cutting behavior can matter more than maximum hardness. Basswood is a classic example because its low density and fine, even texture make it well suited to carving. Other projects may favor harder or more decorative species depending on whether strength, wear resistance, grain, or appearance takes priority.

Learn About Wood

Choosing wood becomes easier when you understand how it is structured and why different species behave differently. Basic knowledge of identification, classification, grain, and moisture provides useful context for interpreting individual species profiles and comparing materials.

Wood Identification

Wood identification relies on more than color. Grain pattern, pore structure, texture, density, odor, and anatomical features can all provide useful clues. Color alone can be misleading because wood changes with age, exposure, and finishing, and different species can sometimes look remarkably similar.

Scientific names are especially useful because common names can vary by region or be applied to more than one species. The profiles in the Wood Database include scientific identification where applicable to provide clearer context.

Hardwood vs. Softwood

The terms hardwood and softwood describe botanical groups rather than guaranteed levels of hardness. Hardwoods come from angiosperm trees, while softwoods come from gymnosperms, primarily conifers. As a result, a hardwood is not necessarily harder than every softwood.

This distinction is useful for broad classification, but properties should be evaluated at the species level when choosing material for a project.

Wood Grain and Structure

Wood is a natural material formed from specialized cells, and its structure helps create the grain and texture visible on a finished surface. How a board is cut relative to the log can also influence its appearance and dimensional behavior.

Some species have relatively straight grain, while others may have interlocked or irregular grain. Figure can add another layer of visual character. Curly Maple, for example, is recognized for a distinctive figure rather than representing a separate botanical species.

Moisture and Wood Movement

Wood is hygroscopic, meaning it exchanges moisture with the surrounding environment. As moisture content changes below the fiber saturation range, wood generally shrinks or swells, and the amount of movement differs by species and grain direction.

This is why acclimation, moisture conditions, grain orientation, and allowance for movement can matter in woodworking and construction. Hardness alone cannot predict how stable a piece of wood will be as environmental conditions change.

Explore Wood Species Guides

Once you understand the properties that influence wood performance, individual species guides provide the detail needed to compare real materials. Explore the current collection below to learn how each wood differs in appearance, physical properties, workability, durability, and common applications.

• Teak — naturally durable hardwood widely associated with outdoor furniture, boatbuilding, and marine applications.
• Ipe Wood — exceptionally hard and durable tropical hardwood commonly used for decking and exterior construction.
• Wenge Wood — dark African hardwood valued for furniture, veneers, millwork, and decorative applications.
• Purpleheart Wood — dense tropical hardwood known for its distinctive purple heartwood.
• Cocobolo — dense, colorful tropical hardwood used for instruments, handles, turning, and fine woodworking.
• Sapele — African hardwood with interlocked grain used in furniture, cabinetry, millwork, and instruments.
• Mango Wood — hardwood used for furniture and decorative objects, often displaying distinctive color variation.
• Olive Wood — dense decorative wood known for irregular grain and contrasting figure, often used for turning and smaller projects.
• Curly Maple — figured maple valued for its rippled appearance in furniture, instruments, and decorative work.
• Basswood — lightweight, fine-textured wood particularly well suited to carving and models.

Start Exploring Wood

Use ExploreWood according to the question you want to answer. If you already know which species you want to research, browse the Wood Database for detailed profiles. If you are choosing material for a project, use the property and application guidance above to identify what matters first, then explore the individual species guides to compare suitable options.