Wood is one of the most useful materials in the world and has many different uses, because it's strong and versatile.
Wood is available as hardwood or softwood but these descriptions don't always refer to the actual hardness or softness of the wood, which can be confusing.
Beech Tree (Hardwood)
Hardwoods are from broad leaved (deciduous) trees, such as beech, birch, mahogany, maple, oak, teak and walnut and lose their leaves in the autumn.
Softwoods on the other hand are from evergreen (coniferous) trees that have needles and cones throughout the year and include cypress, fir, pine, spruce and redwood.
Pinewood Forest (Softwood)
Generally, hardwoods are harder than softwoods but this is not always the case. For example, linden wood and alder wood which Polmac (UK) Ltd uses as base woods, because they're ideal for staining wood boxes, are actually hardwoods that are comparatively soft and lightweight.
Many hardwoods have beautiful grain character and are used for making wooden boxes and furniture, as well as for decorative woodwork.
Softwoods often come from trees that are tall and straight and are used extensively in the construction industry but can also be used in wooden box making, if a tougher and more durable material is required.
The structure of wood determines its appearance, how it behaves and what it's used for.
There are many tree varieties with a wide range of properties that are different to materials such as metals, plastics and ceramics.
These materials have a fairly uniform inner structure that makes them behave exactly the same way in all directions. Wood however has different properties in different directions, due to its natural, annual growth ring structure.
If properly treated and preserved wood will last a long time before it begins to deteriorate. However, because wood is an organic material, it's subject to the natural forces of decay, such as fungus and insects that will gradually attack its structure and eventually reduce it to dust.
People learned to use wood for practical and decorative purposes from the earliest times. Today, it's still a very popular material and is particularly admired for its natural, organic and eco-friendly properties.
Forestry can be 100% sustainable but random, unregulated logging can seriously damage the environment, whether it's to clear a tropical rainforest or to selectively cut down mature trees in an old woodland.
Trees provide important habitats for many other species and help to increase bio-diversity. If managed in a sustainable way, forestry is a great example of how people can live in perfect harmony with the environment and benefit from it.
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