Softwood: Difference between revisions
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
[[Image:Pinus sylvestris wood ray section 1 beentree.jpg|200px|thumb|right|A typical and well-known softwood]] |
[[Image:Pinus sylvestris wood ray section 1 beentree.jpg|200px|thumb|right|A typical and well-known softwood]] |
||
The term '''softwood''' is used to |
The term '''softwood''' is used to hi my name is laura i live in canadadescribe wood from [[conifer]]s. It may also be used to describe these trees, which tend to be [[evergreen]], notable exceptions being [[bald cypress]] and the [[larch]]es. |
||
Softwood is the source of about 80% of the world's production of [[timber]], with traditional centers of production being the [[Baltic region]] (including [[Scandinavia]] and Russia) and [[North America]]. |
Softwood is the source of about 80% of the world's production of [[timber]], with traditional centers of production being the [[Baltic region]] (including [[Scandinavia]] and Russia) and [[North America]]. |
Revision as of 17:21, 20 March 2010
The term softwood is used to hi my name is laura i live in canadadescribe wood from conifers. It may also be used to describe these trees, which tend to be evergreen, notable exceptions being bald cypress and the larches.
Softwood is the source of about 80% of the world's production of timber, with traditional centers of production being the Baltic region (including Scandinavia and Russia) and North America. The term softwood is used as opposed to hardwood, which is the wood from angiosperm trees. Softwoods are not necessarily softer than hardwoods. In both groups there is an enormous variation in actual wood hardness, with the range in density in hardwoods completely including that of softwoods; some hardwoods (e.g. balsa) are softer than most softwoods, while the hardest hardwoods are much harder than any softwood; this is not surprising as there are about a hundred times as many hardwoods as there are softwoods. The woods of longleaf pine, douglas fir, and yew are much harder in the mechanical sense than several hardwoods.
Applications
In general softwood is easy to work: it forms the bulk of wood used by humans.
- Prime material for structural building components.
- Furniture
- Millwork
- Raw material as pulp in the production of paper and cardboard
- Printmaking
- The finer softwoods find many speciality uses.
Controversies
A trade dispute over softwood lumber has been ongoing between Canada and the United States.