1. Resources

All Wood Types

Alder

Characteristics:

Alder is a softwood ranking 590 on the Janka hardness scale. It boasts a straight grain and uniform texture, with color variations ranging from light tan to reddish brown. It can darken and develop red hues with age. Easy to sand and is considered a stain-grade or paint-grade option.

Recommendations:

Alder can be either painted or stained, depending on your application. The rich tones allow for a staining similar to Cherry, while the even texture make this wood a great painting option.

Solid stock can be requested at a premium price when available. Laminates can be color-matched upon request.

Example of Laminate:


Alder Alder Products

Basswood

Characteristics:

Basswood is a soft and light hardwood species with a 410 on the Janka hardness scale. It is easy to work making it a popular wood for carvings. It has a very fine, even texture with a straight grain. It ranges in color from a pale white or cream color to a light brown. The color is often uniform and no knots or defects are typically present.

Recommendations:

Basswood can be painted or stained, depending on your preference. It is easy to work with manually or using power tools, allowing you to easily glue, cut, nail or screw the wood if necessary.

Solid stock can be requested at a premium price when available. Laminates can be color-matched upon request.

Basswood

Beech

Characteristics:

Beech is a medium-to-hardwood with a 1300 on the Janka hardness scale. It is an all-purpose solution as it machines, glues and finished well. It features a fine, tight grain with medullar rays. Generally a pale cream color with dark specks, but can be steamed for an added red or brown hue. This perishable wood is stain-grade or paint-grade.

Recommendations:

Beech provides an excellent staining surface. Because of its similarities to maples, another stain grade option would be Hard Maple wood- a more economic option.

Solid stock can be requested at a premium price when available. Laminates can be color-matched upon request.

Beech Beech Wood Closeup

Black Walnut

Characteristics:

Black Walnut is a rare wood type due to its durability, which also makes it highly popular. It ranks 1010 on the Janka hardness scale. Generally this wood features a straight grain making it easy to work with. Contrary to its name, black walnut is actually brown, ranging from a lighter pale brown to a dark chocolate with dark streaks. It often contains burls, butts and curls. The sapwood is usually white and may be as high as 25%, but Osborne steams the wood to make it a light coffee color. This is a stain-grade wood.

Recommendations:

Walnut is a beautiful stain grade wood type that easily complements other steamed walnut products.

Solid stock can be requested at a premium price when available. Laminates can be color-matched upon request.

Example of Laminate:


Black Walnut Black Walnut Products

Cherry

Characteristics:

One of our biggest sellers is Cherry, as it is considered an all-purpose wood. Cherry is a heavy, strong wood with a 950 on the Janka hardness scale. It features a straight grain and fine, even texture. The heartwood is typically a medium reddish brown, and the sapwood is a pale pinkish-yellow (usually consisting of 75% heartwood and 25% sapwood). It is easy to machine and sands to a glass-like smoothness, making it ideal for staining.

Recommendations:

Cherry is a stain grade wood. A more economical option to mimic cherry would be the Alder wood species.

Solid stock can be requested at a premium price when available. Laminates can be color-matched upon request.

Example of Laminate:


Cherry Cherry Products Cherry Wood Closeup

Hard Maple

Characteristics:

Hard maple is a common selection due to its density. It boasts a 1450 ranking on the Janka hardness scale. It features a fine, close-grained texture and consistent light coloring. Maple species that may be included in the hard maple designation are Florida maple and black maple.

Recommendations:

The smooth surface of hard maple makes it a stain-grade wood option that can accommodate light or dark stains.

Solid stock can be requested at a premium price when available. Laminates can be color-matched upon request.

Example of Laminate:


Hard Maple Hard Maple Products

Hickory

Characteristics:

The strongest wood type offered from Osborne, with an impressive 1820 on the Janka hardness scale. A mixture of hickory and pecan, this wood type features a straight grain that can occasionally have irregularities or waves. It has a coarse texture with color variations of reddish brown, light brown and white. These variations can cause a striped appearance. Due to these variations, this is a stain-grade wood.

Recommendations:

Hickory has a very unique color variation that adds dimension and texture to rustic style homes. Hickory is a stain grade option for projects where such variety adds to the detail of the design.

Solid stock can be requested at a premium price when available. Laminates can be color-matched upon request.

Example of Laminate:


Hickory Hickory Products

Knotty Pine

Characteristics:

One of our least dense woods, knotty pine has a 380 score on the Janka hardness scale. It is lightweight with a straight grain and a fine, even texture. Small and tight knots throughout the wood offer a rustic look. This is a stain-grade option and paint may bleed through the knots.

Recommendations:

Although our most economic wood option, Knotty pine is recommended for staining. This wood type may be painted for rustic or distressed projects, however the knots will bleed through the paint over time and grain may be exposed.

Solid stock can be requested at a premium price when available. Laminates can be color-matched upon request.

Example of Laminate:


Knotty Pine Knotty Pine Products

Mahogany

Characteristics:

A valued timber from Africa, mahogany is a medium-to-hardwood with an 830 on the Janka hardness scale. It’s grain can be straight, interlocked, irregular or wavy with a medium, coarse texture. Colors range from a pale pinkish brown to a dark reddish brown and may include streaks of medium to dark reddish brown. These colors often darken with age.

Recommendations:

This wood is a stain-grade option.

Solid stock can be requested at a premium price when available. Laminates can be color-matched upon request.

Example of Laminate:

Mahogany Mahogany Products

Paintgrade Birch

Characteristics:

Birch is a hardwood ranking 1260 on the Janka hardness scale. It features quality fiber that is suitable for painting and it is easy to work with. It is typically straight-grained with a fine and even texture although variations can include a wavy grain. Color variations range from white to yellow and the wood can develop a yellowish-red hue with age.

Recommendations:

This paintgrade birch is meant to be painted due to its composition.

Solid stock can be requested at a premium price when available. Laminates can be color-matched upon request.

PGBIR

Poplar (paintgrade)

Characteristics:

Poplar is a hardwood with a ranking of 540 on the Janka hardness scale. This makes poplar very easy to work with. Poplar boards are white with green or brown streaks. The grain is straight and uniform. It is a species commonly used in furniture, cabinets, toys or other applications. See video presentation of poplar characteristics here.

Recommendations:

Poplar is considered "paintgrade" lumber. Product sold in poplar should only be purchased for a painting installation. Osborne Wood Products is offering poplar as an exclusively paintgrade option meaning that there are no limits to the number or direction of laminates and no restriction on the use or color of putty or filler. The product a customer will receive with be ideal for painting.

Solid stock can be requested at a premium price when available. Laminates can be color-matched upon request.

Example of Laminate:

Poplar Final

Red Oak

Characteristics:

A heavy and strong wood, red oak has a 1290 score on the Janka hardness scale. It features a straight grain with a coarse, uneven texture and large, open pores. Colors range from light to medium brown with a reddish cast and pinkish tones. This is a stain-grade wood that turns and bends beautifully.

Recommendations:

Because of its unique grain patterns and texture, Red Oak is recommended as a stain grade option.

Solid stock can be requested at a premium price when available. Laminates can be color-matched upon request.

Example of Laminate:


Red Oak Red Oak Products

Rubberwood (paintgrade)

Characteristics:

Rubberwood is moderately hard, having a similar density and weight to maple or ash. It offers durability similar to hardwoods. The grain has a straight texture that is somewhat open and coarse in appearance. Rubberwood ranks 890 on the Janka hardness scale. It is light blonde to medium tan in color. This is similar to poplar or pine so it is considered a stain-grade or paint-grade option. It is easy to work with and finishes well.

Recommendations:

Rubberwood can be either painted or stained, depending on your application.

Solid stock can be requested at a premium price when available. Laminates can be color-matched upon request.

Rubberwood

Rustic Alder

Characteristics:

Rustic Alder (sometimes called Knotty Alder) is a hardwood of medium density that features a color range of light browns with occasional reddish hues. Rustic Alder, being true to its name, features large split knots and open knots that vary in size. The knots can come in a variety of shapes and colors which can cause the knots to take stain differently than the rest of the wood. Some knots may also be completely through the wood, making this wood a perfect choice for rustic style projects. To learn more, view our in-depth guide on Rustic Alder Standards and our video demonstration of the characteristics of rustic alder.

Recommendations:

Rustic Alder is a specialty wood option at Osborne and is recommended for staining. A more economic paint or stain grade option would be our standard Alder.

Solid stock can be requested at a premium price when available. Laminates can be color-matched upon request.

Rustic Alder Rustic Alder UPDATED

Soft Maple (paintgrade)

Characteristics:

Unlike the name suggests, soft maple is not a softwood. It is simply a lower density than hard maple, with a 950 on the Janka hardness scale. It is a fine-textured, close-grained wood with a medium density that is great for machining or finishing. Color variations include gray mineral streaking and sapwood. These streaks make this a paint-grade option.

Recommendations:

Soft Maple is considered a paint grade because of minor mineral streaking, in addition to its close grained texture creating a more than adequate painting surface. For light stains and clear coat finishes try using our Hard Maple for a clearer, more consistent finish.

Solid stock can be requested at a premium price when available. Laminates can be color-matched upon request.

Example of Laminate:

Soft Maple Soft Maple Products

Spanish Cedar

Characteristics:

This heartwood is native to Central and South America with a pinkish to reddish brown color that becomes darker from exposure. It is coarse and not very dense with a 600 rating on the Janka hardness scale. Due to the low density, it is harder to sand but can be worked easily.

Recommendations:

The straight-interlocked grain and medium texture make this a great stain-grade option.

Solid stock can be requested at a premium price when available. Laminates can be color-matched upon request.

Spanish Cedar

Stain-grade

Stain-grade unfinished wood used for decorative wood inlays.

Western Red Cedar

Characteristics:

Western Red Cedar is the least-dense wood we offer, with a rating of 350 on the Janka hardness scale. It is still a highly durable wood despite its lack of strength. It has twice the stability of most softwoods.The heartwood is a reddish to pinkish brown, sometimes with random streaks or bands of a darker red or brown color, while the sapwood is a pale yellowish-white color. It has a straight grain and a uniform medium to coarse texture.

Recommendations:

An easy wood to work with, this is a stain-grade and paint-grade option.

Solid stock can be requested at a premium price when available. Laminates can be color-matched upon request.

Western Red Cedar

White Oak

Characteristics:
White Oak is a hard and heavy wood with a rank of 1360 on the Janka hardness scale. It is a light to medium brown and has sapwood which appears white. This wood is easy to work with and has great wear-resistance making it ideal for many indoor projects.

Recommendations:
White Oak is an ideal wood species for tables, chairs, floors and trim. It looks great stained or with a clear, natural finish. We recommend staining it due to the straight grain with a coarse, uneven texture. Small knots less than 3/8" may be present.

Solid stock can be requested at a premium price when available. Laminates can be color-matched upon request.

Example of Laminate:


White oak

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