Hardwood not hard, softwood not soft! (necessarily)

Commercially available softwood may be mostly conifers, but there are plenty of softwoods that are not conifers. Take the magnolia for example. It's so soft that you couldn't build ANYthing with it. And hardwoods are definitely harder than softwoods. Just cut any hardwood with a handsaw and you'll see it takes longer than cutting any softwood. The truth I have discovered is that softwoods grow faster and less dense and hardwoods grow slower and denser, and thus the hardness and softness.

-BAM

Magnolia is a hardwood. I think you missed the point of the post.

Well, there are evergreen angisperms, azalea, rhododendron, holly, are they hard or soft wood? And there are deciduous gymnosperms, larch? are they hard or soft wood? I'm not sure the Univ of Tenn is the defining authority here.

BAM please reread the OP.

WRONG. Balsa is classified as a hardwood and is very soft, easy to cut and light.

WRONG. Balsa is classified as a hardwood. In 6 to 10 years it can grow up to 90 feet tall and 45 inches in diameter.

OK, now I'm REALLY learning something today! This is getting interesting...

Better study up on just what a hardwood and softwood are Em. There are plenty of softwoods that are harder than hardwoods and vice versa. Take Southern Yellow Pine for instance....softwood but is pretty darned hard. Likewise, balsa wood is a hardwood....hmmm, that's pretty easy to cut actually. The distinction has nothing to do with the wood's actual hardness but as the OP quoted, with the way the tree grows (conifer, deciduous, etc...). Cheers, cc

Better study up on just what a hardwood and softwood are Em. There are plenty of softwoods that are harder than hardwoods and vice versa. Take Southern Yellow Pine for instance....softwood but is pretty darned hard. Likewise, balsa wood is a hardwood....hmmm, that's pretty easy to cut actually. The distinction has nothing to do with the wood's actual hardness but as the OP quoted, with the way the tree grows (conifer, deciduous, etc...). Cheers, cc

Live oak, some call them "evergreens" although they don't resemble any conifer, drop their leaves not at the end of the growing season, but, at the beginning of spring. Leaves are soon replaced in less than a week. If one is not paying attention, one might think they never lose their leaves. Just an addendum to the defintion provided by the original post. They're hardwood if anyone is perplexed.

-snip-

Go to your local borg and pick up a piece of poplar from the hardwood section. Repeat with some yellow pine in the softwoods. You'll find the yellow pine much harder.

Re-read the original post.

Jim

: Go to your local borg and pick up a piece of poplar from the hardwood : section. Repeat with some yellow pine in the softwoods. You'll : find the yellow pine much harder.

: Re-read the original post.

Does anyone know what the hardest softwood is? The softest hardwood?

Name one.

Botanically speaking, magnolia is a hardwood.

Botanically speaking, balsa is a hardwood, and southern yellow pine is a softwood.

Methinks you need to go back and read what the OP wrote. *Much* more carefully this time.

You are confusing "softwood" with "soft wood", and "hardwood" with "hard wood". Not the same at all, as the OP's post makes abundantly clear.

Bzzt! Thanks for playing. Magnolia is harder than yellow poplar.

Being angiosperms, they're hardwoods.

Being gymnosperms, they're softwoods.

Perhaps not, but they agree completely with the source that *is* the defining authority:

The softest hardwood has gotta be balsa. Dunno about the hardest softwood... longleaf pine is certainly one of the hardest in North America, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are some tropical gymnosperms that are much harder.

Balsa is a hardwood. Most softwoods are easier to cut tham Balsa.

Bunya Pine is a softwood. It is insanely hard.

As the OP said, it is a taxonomic division (although his source is wrong, many Hardwoods are evergreen)

...Brock.

If you've ever had one growing in your yard, you'll never think they don't lose their leaves.

How about Pacific Yew? I have a friend who has his barn poles made from this wood. I was trying to drive nails into this stuff and every single nail bent. This is the wood which got me interested in this topic to begin with.

Pacific Yew...

Well, "when I use a word, it means precisely what I want it to mean".

At least one dictionary I found offers a 3rd definition:

I thought this was a post about Lyle! Haven't seen hide nor hair of him in a while. Wonder what he's up to...