What Is Softwood ?

What Is Softwood ?

Is softwood softer than hardwood ? The answer is No. Some hardwood are very soft , like balsa wood, which is the softest wood in the world.

Softwood refers to wood cut from trees belonging to gymnosperms. Softwood trees are conifers and evergreen while hardwood typically comes from angiosperm, deciduous and broad-leaved trees. Softwood grows faster than hardwood.Softwood lumber is mostly obtained from the Baltic, Scandinavia and North America.

Though softwood and hardwood are not be divided by their weight or density, softwood is generally less dense than hardwood . Softwood has good Mechanical Properties and is easy to saw, plan, bore, nail.

Softwood is one of main source of lumbers. The typical species of softwood are pine, cedar, spruce, larch, fir. Softwoods are prime material for structural lumber, building components, furniture, wood pulp for paper and paperboard, packing.