Do you have a proper understanding of forests as a carpenter? Having a hard time deciding which woods to use for your furniture, kitchen cabinets, or shed?

You need to know about woods, if you are new to woodworking. Forests are part of our daily life and curiously we always ignore them. The trees are alive! It is good to remember that wood is a product of nature and we depend on nature.

There are two main categories of wood: natural wood and artificial wood. Artificial wood is made from by-products of the tree’s wood.

The natural wood category is divided into two large groups: softwoods and hardwoods. Softwoods are harvested from trees that typically take 20 years or more to mature.

The most common known family category is Pine. Pine is available throughout the world and is relatively inexpensive. The trees grow tall and straight, a characteristic that in the past made them suitable for sailboat masts as well as large construction beams. Common examples of softwood are Himalayan cedar, Oregon pine, and South African pine etc.

The hardwood category is harvested from trees that take a long time to grow to maturity, in many cases up to 200 years or more. The most popular hardwoods for joinery include oak, beech, walnut, and mahogany. If you want to use hardwoods for furniture, there are so many hardwoods to choose from. For example, American red oak, American white oak, Australian red cedar, cherry, beech, elm, iroko, jelutong, mahogany, maple, meranti, rosewood, sycamore, teak and walnut tulipwood, etc.

Now we have many reasons to manufacture wood ‘Man-Made’ and among them is the fact that natural wood is becoming more expensive. Another very good factor is that natural wood tends to warp a bit, while ‘handcrafted’ boards are much more stable. There are so many examples that you can see in your own home, such as the built-in kitchen and bedroom. Artificial wood can be medium-density fiberboard, plywood, blockboard (copine, pre-glued panels), chipboard and chipboard plywood, etc.