Hardwood vs Softwood Lumber

Differences Between Hardwood and Softwood Lumber

The core difference between hardwood and softwood lumber is their cellular make-up.  Long straight cells called tracheids are the primary building blocks of softwood. Around 90-95% of softwood lumber is made up of these straw like cells. This makes softwoods relatively homogeneous with variation from tree to tree or species to species less extreme than their hardwood counterparts. 

Hardwoods boast a much more complex cellular structure with 4 primary cell types: fiber tracheids, vessels, longitudinal parenchyma and ray parenchyma.  Fiber tracheids similar to those found in softwood  are still present in hardwoods. Vessels are much wider than tracheids and act as the primary conduit for water and food transport through hardwoods. Parenchyma cells are used for food storage and grow vertically or radially. Ray cells are those that extend from the center of the tree radially out towards the bark. Rays are present in softwoods but are usually only 1-2 cells wide. For comparison, hardwood rays can be 30+ cells wide and on average make up 15-20% of a hardwood tree’s volume. 

Below are cross sections of a softwood and hardwood sample. Vessels of the hardwood sample are easily identified as round circles. 

Are hardwoods “harder” than softwoods?

Not necessarily.  The lumber industry uses the Janka scale to measure the hardness of a wood. Higher numbers represent increased hardness. In general, softwoods are softer than hardwoods, but there are many exceptions. The term hardwood brings to mind woods like White Oak (Janka:1,360) Sugar Maple (Janka: 1,400) or Hickory (Janka: 1,820). Commonly considered species of softwoods include White Pine (Janka: 420) or Colorado Blue Spruce (Janka: 380).

The reality is that these categories are broader. By definition, basswood (Janka: 410), Alder (Janka: 590) and Poplar (Janka: 540) are all hardwoods. These species are softer than softwoods like Douglas Fir (Janka: 660) or Longleaf Southern Yellow Pine (Janka: 870). To learn more and look up the hardness of your favorite species check out this site HERE.

H&H Lumber Notes

Here at the millwork shop we spend most of our time producing hardwood lumber products. There are massive mills out west that produce more lineal feet of softwood T&G paneling in a day than we make in a year. The scale has made products like Pine paneling into a commodity that’s hyper focused on cheap prices. When we are running pine through the shop it’s usually a custom milling job. The customers are bringing in their own pine boards for us to dry and mill.

The wide variety of possibilities for personalization within the hardwood market make this an ideal line of products for our shop to process. Click on over to our contact page to start the conversation on how we can be a part of your next hardwood project! Click Here to contact us!