Know Your Wood: Yellow Birch

Yellow Birch

Yellow Birch , presented by The Wood Explorer.

Trade Name: Yellow birch, birch. (The majority of hardwood marketed as “birch” in the United States is the species defined herein.)

Genus : Betula alleghaniensis


Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 1260

A Yellow birch in action, sharing the smooth bark with its ornamental paper birch cousin found commonly in landscape applications.

Description: Heartwood is very pale, with close to white sapwood. Figuring is common, at least from the commercially available birch that has been available to me. The grain is straight, and the pores are tight. A very hardy tree.

Location: Eastern North America. The range of the Yellow birch is roughly the same as many of the other great North American hardwoods. Ranges from Ontario and Nova Scotia to the north, and reaches to the highest elevations of the Appalachians in northern Georgia to the south.

Yeah, I built that thing. A dozen years ago. I'm no happier with its appearance than you, but it is birch. In my defense, this project was heavily subsidized by Natural Light.

Common Aliases: American birch, Betula wood, Birch. Other variations of the Genus Betula marketable as birch include: Alaska Paper Birch, Alder-leaf birch, Downy birch, Gray birch, Paper birch, River birch, Silver birch, Sweet birch, Masur birch.

Performance: Very easy to work and highly versatile. Don’t use it outside, please. You’ll be disappointed with that stunt. Yellow birch saws easily, sands and accepts finishes quite well. Birch will burn, and the burn will show if using less-than-sharp cutting heads. A great performance species for the relatively low cost. Paints well too, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Common Uses: Furnishings, veneers, plywood, doors, utility grade furnishings, millworks, dowel pins, cabinetmaking, flooring, fuelwood, toothpicks, pianos, crates.

From: The Wood Database:

Common Name(s): Yellow Birch
Scientific Name: Betula alleghaniensis
Distribution: Northeastern North America
Tree Size: 65-100 ft (20-30 m) tall, 2-3 ft (.6-1.0 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 46 lbs/ft3 (740 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .55
Hardness: 1,260 lbf (5,610 N)
Rupture Strength: 16,600 lbf/in2 (114,480 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 2,010,000 lbf/in2 (13,860 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 8,170 lbf/in2 (56.3 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 7.3%, Tangential: 9.5%, Volumetric: 16.8%, T/R Ratio: 1.3

Know Your Wood: White Ash

White Ash

He may have won the Gold Glove in left field last year, but as is so often the case, the voters were winking at Mr. Gordon's work with that stick of Ash as much as the leather.

Trade Name: White Ash.

Genus: Fraxinus americana

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 1320

Description: Light brown with highly pronounced cathedral grain pattern. Similar to the oaks at first appearance, but ash is a denser and more stable species. The White ash is coarse, like oak, and the grain is usually straight and regular. Not for exterior use.

Both water and insect can kick some serious Ash. Interior use only, please.

Location: Typically, Eastern North America. Ranges from Nova Scotia to Minnesota across the north, south to northern Florida and west to eastern Texas. Found all over the great North American temperate forests.

Common Aliases: American ash, Ash, Biltmore white ash. The term “ash” may also refer to several other specialized species of the Genus Fraxinus, namely: Black ash, Blue ash, European ash, Green ash, Oregon ash, Pumpkin ash, and olive ash. Olive ash may also refer, confusingly, to darker varieties of White ash similar in appearance to the Olive.

Performance: Relatively easy to work, given its strength properties. White Ash is a flexible wood that finishes quite well naturally, and can be stained. Saws well, glues easily, sands fairly easily. A very solid all-around performer.

I never would have guessed such a thing, but it certainly appears one can craft a lobster trap from Ash...

Common Uses: Baseball bats, crates, pallets, millwork, tool handles, other turnings, furnishings, flooring, hockey sticks, audio equipment, and other projects requiring a strong, sharp looking American hardwood.

From: The Wood Database:

Common Name(s): White Ash, American White Ash
Scientific Name: Fraxinus americana
Distribution: Eastern North America
Tree Size: 65-100 ft (20-30 m) tall, 2-5 ft (.6-1.5 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 44 lbs/ft3 (710 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .55
Hardness: 1,320 lbf (5,870 N)
Rupture Strength: 15,000 lbf/in2 (103,450 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 1,740,000 lbf/in2 (12,000 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 7,410 lbf/in2 (51.1 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 4.9%, Tangential: 7.8%, Volumetric: 13.3%, T/R Ratio: 1.6

Know your wood: Red Alder

Red Alder

A fellow by the name of Larry Workman took this picture. His other fascinating works of the northeast can be found here.



Common trade names: Red alder

Genus: Alnus rubra

Janka Hardness (pounds-force): 590

Description: Red Alder is tan to brown in color, complemented by reddish hues. Red alder tends to continue to darken over time. Looks quite a bit like birch, and there’s a reason: They are both trees of the family Betulaceae. Red alder has tight pores and a generally straight and even grain stock.

Allergic to Red alder? I'd move away from Oregon, if I were you.

Location: Coastal western North America, namely: Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California.

The range of Red alder in British Columbia, courtesy of the Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resources Operations located therein.

Common Aliases: Alder, Oregon alder, Pacific alder, Western alder

Performance: Red alder is susceptible to moisture penetration, specifically through the endgrains. For this reason, I recommend Red alder only for indoor use. In proper applications, Alder is a good, sustainable performance wood for cabinetry and woodworking. It is a little softer than some of the other American hardwoods, and for this reason is a good wood to work in some specialty interior applications.

Red alder is easily worked by machine or hand, and glues and finishes well. Red alder is also a fine turning stock.

Common Uses: Interior furnishings, fine woodworks, turnings, carvings, cabinetry, audio equipment, and any number of applications for a very easily worked (and among the softest) of the hardwoods.

From: The Wood Database

Common Name(s): Red Alder, Western Red Alder
Scientific Name: Alnus rubra
Distribution: Coastal western North America
Tree Size: 100-130 ft (30-40 m) tall, 2-3 ft (.6-1.0 m) trunk diameter
Average Dried Weight: 30 lbs/ft3 (475 kg/m3)
Basic Specific Gravity: .37
Hardness: 590 lbf (2,620 N)
Rupture Strength: 9,800 lbf/in2 (67,590 kPa)
Elastic Strength: 1,380,000 lbf/in2 (9,520 MPa)
Crushing Strength: 5,820 lbf/in2 (40.1 MPa)
Shrinkage: Radial: 4.4%, Tangential: 7.3%, Volumetric: 12.6%, T/R Ratio: 1.7