Category: wood

Softwood is a wood product that is derived from trees and used in a variety of projects, including construction and furniture making. Contrary to the name, softwood is not always soft, but it’s usually lighter than hardwood. Because of its easy availability and cheaper price than hardwood, softwood is the most common wood used in routine woodworking projects.

If you are here, you are probably looking to know everything about softwood, including the types of softwood and its examples.

What is Softwood?

Softwood is the wood produced from gymnosperm trees such as conifers. These trees have a fast growth rate and retain their leaves throughout the year. The most common examples include pine, cedar, spruce, larch and fit.

Depending on the type, softwoods can be used for a variety of woodworking projects, including interior mouldings, making windows, furniture, plywoods, fibreboards, and construction framing.

Here, we will discuss the common types/varieties of softwood along with their respective properties and uses.

Types of Softwood Lumber With Examples

A number of wood species come under the softwood category based on their origin, characteristics and properties. However, not all softwoods are the same. It is crucial to know the right type of softwood for your project before buying one. At CameroonTimberExportSarl, we supply all the top varieties of African softwood and have experience using these woods in real projects.

Some of the most popular types/species of softwood include Pine, Cedar, Redwood, Larch, Douglas Fir, Poplar, among others.

Pine

Pine is the most versatile and popular softwood because of its easy adaptability to a range of applications. It is also the most easily available softwood timber in the world, which makes it cheaper compared to most hardwood options. Pine is used in a variety of projects, mainly in furniture making and construction.

Pinewood bends easily, which makes it a superior choice for making turned objects and furniture. It also carves and stains better than other options. It is also commonly used for flooring, framing and roofing because of its considerable durability and long life. Pine has multiple species, which differ in color, strength and other basic properties.

Cedar

Cedar is a premium softwood that is relatively denser and tougher and has high durability, which is why it’s commonly used for outdoor furniture, decking, and exterior works. Because it’s tough and has decent resistance to moisture, decay and insects, it is ideal for a variety of uses, including flooring, furniture, roofing, among others.

The fine appearance and attractive aroma of cedar also make it suitable for making indoor furniture and other objects. The Western Red Cedar is one of the most popular species of cedar and is preferred for making customised pieces because of its attractive red hue.

Redwood

Similar to cedar, redwood also has outstanding resistance to moisture, which makes it suitable for making outdoor furniture, flooring, etc. The wood has a decent life and will not decay easily. It is not as hard as cedar and is also cheaper. The products made from redwood possess high quality.

European redwood is a popular species, which is usually light in color and used for both indoor and outdoor applications.

Larch

Larch is a softwood type which is commonly imported from the UK and Siberia. It is moderately durable and is strong enough to be used in a variety of construction projects, including for building exterior design such as timber cladding. The color and properties of larch wood may vary depending on its origin.

Douglas Fir

Douglas Fir, or commonly called Fir, is a red-brown softwood timber that is primarily used in buildings. The wood grain is tight & straight with a few knots. It is extensively used for joinery applications, including flooring, cladding, facades, etc. You may also know Douglas Fir from its use as Christmas trees.

The pulp made from the processing of fir is used for plywood and OSB. The moderate cost of fit makes it suitable for use in a range of applications. It is harder and stronger than most softwoods.

Buy Top Quality Softwood from Cameroontimberexportsarl

At CameroonTimberExportSarl, you can find and purchase top quality different types of softwoods that are suitable for a large range of applications. We are known for supplying the best quality softwoods at competitive prices. As a wholesale timber supplier, we can deliver softwood timber to your doorstep anywhere in the world.

To know more about our softwood varieties, prices and availability, contact us today.

Pine is a softwood that comes in a number of variants with different colors and other core features. As a softwood, Pine wood is flexible but also durable. It is often used as a less expensive variant to timbers such as teak, which is one of the costliest woods for furniture making. If you are more curious about pine and its variants, here you’ll find out all about Pine wood, its variants and uses.

4 Major Pine Wood Variants in Detail

Based on the color and other core pine wood properties, we have 4 major types of pine wood, which include white pine, western yellow pine, southern yellow pine, and red pine.

1. White Pine Wood

As the name suggests, this category of pine trees are white in color, i.e. have a white or pale yellow sapwood, while the heartwood is light brown. Other characteristics of white pine wood include low density, even grain, high durability, fine texture and small resin canals. Thanks to its high durability, the wood is resistant to splitting or swelling.

White pine can be further categorised into four species, which include sugar pine, western white pine, eastern white pine and limber pine.

Sugar Pine: The most popular and common species of pine is also the most valuable. It has a coarse texture and large resin canals. It’s commonly used in exterior and interior trim work, for making frames, moldings and musical instruments.

Western White Pine: Also known as silver pine, this species of pine has even grain and medium texture. Uses include plywood, interior, veneering, wooden matches, boxes and making fine furniture.

Eastern White Pine: It is used in construction timber, carving, boat-making and interior millwork.

Limber Pine: Also known as Rocky Mountain white pine, it’s mostly used in fuel wood or rough construction.

2. Southern Yellow Pine Wood

Southern yellow pine is relatively harder than regular pine trees and have a higher density. The sapwood of this category of pine is yellowish white while the heartwood is reddish brown. It can be further categorized into four major species, which are shortleaf pine, longleaf pine, slash pine and loblolly pine.

Shortleaf Pine: Besides being quite beautiful, this pine species is also very affordable. It’s primarily used for making timber, which is used for construction, veneer, etc.

Longleaf Pine: This precious pine is used mainly for ship building and timber is used for interior and exterior construction.

Slash Pine: Slash pine is primarily used for making timber, which is then used in the construction of beams, poles, bridges, etc.

Loblolly Pine: Same as Slash Pine, this pine species is used for construction, but it’s also used for making furniture, pallets, boxes and plywood.

3. Wester Yellow Pine Wood

In terms of hardness, this category of pines falls right between white pine and Southern yellow pine. With a more even grain, they are neither very soft nor very hard. It has two major species, called Lodgepole pine and Ponderosa pine.

Lodgepole pine: The wood is used for lodges, veneer, sheathing, plywood, poles, subflooring and cabinetry.

Ponderosa pine: This species of pine has a clearer wood that is ideal for making blinds, modlings, doors, cabinetry and subflooring.

4. Red Pine Wood

The red pine wood has white yellowish sapwood and a reddish brown heartwood. It has straight, even grain with a medium texture. The red pine timber is used as construction lumber and for making poles, cabin logs and railway ties.

Pine Wood Uses

The use of pine wood depends on the type and color. Most of the timber is used for flooring, furniture and cabinetry. Since pine timber is available in a great variety of colors, they are particularly liked for interiors, furniture making and other design-focus woodworking projects.

For centuries, people have been using pinewood for making log cabins. From the 18th century and after that, pine timber was started to be used to make furniture, flooring, etc.

In the modern world, it is used as a cheaper yet high-quality alternative to many premium woods for making flooring, furniture, trims and moldings, decks, veneer, etc.

Buy Your Favorite Types of Pine Wood Timber & Logs At The Best Price Online

Because of the abundant supply of pine softwood in many locations around the globe, the price of the pine timber is still affordable compared to leading species such as teak, mahogany and rosewood. However, finding the right supplier of different pine lumber that can consistently deliver good quality at a reasonable price is not easy.

Now, you can buy top quality pine wood at a wholesale price directly from CameroonTimberExportSarl. We as a leading timber manufacturer & exporter in Cameroon supply 18+ wood species, including pine wood species, to our clients all over the world.

Visit our website to know more about our different types of wood species, quality, availability and price. You can place your order online, via email or call us on +237 671 77 6559 to enquire and place an order.

Iroko is a hardwood commonly used for cabinetmaking and panelling. It’s quite durable, which makes it a perfect timber for most woodworking projects. Iroko is sometimes used as a cheaper alternative to teak because of similarities in features and colour and is also commonly called African teak. If you are a woodworker looking to know more about the characteristics, uses,price and properties of iroko wood, you’re at the right place.

Iroko Wood: Distribution and Basic Properties

Iroko wood can be further categorised into two species – Milicia excelsa (Chlorophora excelsa) and M. regia (C. regia). While Milicia excelsa can be found in most regions of tropical Africa, the distribution of M. regia is limited to the West African regions of Gambia and Ghana.

The hardwood of iroko is extracted from a tree that is about 100-130 ft in height and has a 3-5 ft (1-1.5 m) trunk diameter. The average dried weight of iroko wood is about 41 lbs/ft3 (660 kg/m3). It has a specific gravity of .55, .66 and the Janka hardness of 1,260 lbf (5,610 N). The iroko tree has long and widespread roots, which make it more stable against strong winds.

Other Basic Properties of Iroko Wood are as Follows:

Color & Appearance: Color of the outer layer, i.e. sapwood, of iroko is a pale yellow, which is very different from the color of the heartwood, i.e. the innermost part, which has a yellow to medium/dark brown color. The heartwood has light stripes all over it, which are quite visible on flat-sawn surfaces. The color of iroko hardwood is very similar to that of teak wood and tends to get dark over time.

Texture: The texture of Iroko hardwood is medium to coarse. It has interlocked grain, which may cause some tearouts when working with a machine. However, Iroko is typically easy to work with both hand and machine.

Resistance: Iroko has been categorised as very durable, and is similar to red maple in strength. It has very good resistance to insect attack, decay and rot and can be used for outdoor projects as well.

Since Iroko is a very durable wood, it doesn’t require much maintenance or perseverance, which reduces the cost of maintenance of the iroko wood items in the long term.

The Iroko tree also has environmental values, as it is said to have the ability to absorb CO2 from the air and transform it into limestone, which not only helps reduce the carbon but also enriches the soil, making it more fertile.

Physical and Mechanical Properties of Iroko Tropical Timber (*at 12% of wood moisture)

Total tangential shrinkage (TS): 5.4%
Specific gravity*: 0.64
TS/RS ratio: 1.5
Monnin hardness*: 4.1
Coef. of volumetric shrinkage: 0.44%
Total radial shrinkage (RS): 3.5%
Fiber saturation point: 23%

Durability and Treatability of Iroko Tropical Timber

Fungi: class 1-2 – very durable to durable
Dry wood borers: durable
Termites: class D – durable
Treatability: class 4 – not impregnable

Availability and Price of Iroko Wood

The availability of iroko, especially the one with premium quality, is mostly limited to tropical Africa. There are some authorised sellers of iroko wood & timber in this region of Africa. CameroonTimberExportSarl is one of them. We follow a sustainable iroko wood harvesting process, where not more than 20% of the harvest is cut down in a specific period. We have our own forests and lands as well as purchase wood from local landowners in a completely sustainable manner.

All our wood is processed at the company’s own mill located in Douala, Cameroon. We use skilled woodworkers and pay them well.

We at CameroonTimberExportSarl legally export our Iroko wood logs, timber and slabs to our customers all over the world, including to countries in the Middle East, Asia and Europe. We sell iroko timber and logs at wholesale prices. You can buy iroko timber at a really affordable price from CameroonTimberExportSarl and get it delivered to your local anywhere in the world.

Primary Uses of Iroko Hardwood

Iroko is a highly durable wood, which makes it perfect for a range of woodworking projects such as boat building, veneering, flooring, furniture making, panelling, cabinetry, barrel making for building turned items and specialty wood items. It is often used as a cheaper and easily available substitute for teak.

The high durability of Iroko hardwood makes it suitable for making outdoor furniture, ships, flooring, bridges, railways sleepers and other similar items.

Other possible uses of Iroko timber and slabs include structure and panels making, exterior joinery, building facades, recreation equipment, carpentry, interior fittings, etc.

Check out the complete range of African wood species and quality timber at the CameroonTimberExportSarl website and order online to get the best price and on-time delivery to your address.