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how to tell difference between softwood and hardwood

  • 24-09-2015 05:17PM
    #1
    mengele
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 889 ✭✭✭


    going to buy firewood this weekend. He tells me its a mixture of softwood and hardwood. How would you tell the difference from looking at it? has hardwood any specific traits


Comments

  • #2
    Genghis Cant
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,980 ✭✭✭Genghis Cant


    Hardwood is a denser heavier timber. Tends to be less sap from it, and no resin .
    Softwood typically are the evergreen trees you see planted, the timber smells like pine is usually lighter coloured, often has resin and appears sticky in places. It can appear very knotty too. The bark on most softwoods would be broadly similar. The bark on hardwoods are very species specific, and very different, eg Ash is grey and very distinguished , beech is very smooth .

    I wouldn't like to see water running out of any timber, if it fairly dry it'll all burn.
    I'd suspect when a fellow would tell me theres a mix of hard and soft wood there could be mainly softwood. It wouldn't burn as well as seasoned hardwood.


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