American basswood is a soft, lightweight hardwood with a fine, even texture. Pale cream to light tan in color, it is very easy to carve and shape. It is suitable for making furniture, wooden utensils, carvings, models, and puppets.

American elm is durable and tough, yet softer than most other hardwoods. Interlocked grains add to its toughness and make it more resistant to splitting. The color is light to medium reddish brown, sometimes with darker streaks.

Yellowwood is a strong, straight-grained hardwood. This wood cuts cleanly by hand or with power tools and is excellent for joinery, decorative carving, and musical instruments. The vivid yellow heartwood mellows to golden-brown with age.

Amur corktree is a relatively light, soft hardwood with a coarse texture and pale yellow to light brown color. It has a straight, even grain and works easily with tools. It is used in small woodworking projects and decorative or utilitarian items.

Eastern white cedar, also known as arborvitae, is a medium-soft, close-grained wood with an even texture. The grain is typically straight. This wood is commonly used for fencing, posts, poles, shingles, log cabin construction, and canoes.

Belgian elm is a medium-density hardwood with interlocked grain and a somewhat uneven texture. It may show wavy or figured patterns. Light brown to reddish-brown in color, it is used for furniture, boxes, baskets, and decorative woodworking.

Bitternut hickory produces a tough, strong hardwood similar to other hickories. Its heartwood is pale brown, often tinged with yellow, while the sapwood is nearly white. The grain is typically straight, but can be irregular or wavy. This dense wood is highly shock-resistant, making it ideal for tool handles, flooring, and other high-stress applications.

Black locust is a very dense and heavy hardwood, with a medium texture and straight or slightly irregular grain. One of the most rot-resistant woods, it is ideal for fence posts, outdoor furniture, decking, flooring, boatbuilding, and other applications that may involve moisture.

Black walnut is a durable hardwood with a slightly open grain that is typically straight, but occasionally curly, wavy, or figured. Its deep brown color can have a gray, purple, or reddish cast. The texture of new wood is usually coarse, but the wood develops a lustrous patina over time.

Blue ash is a durable hardwood with a medium to coarse texture, similar to oak. The grain is typically straight, but may be curly or figured. This wood is easy to work and responds well to steam bending, gluing, staining, and finishing.

Boxelder, or boxelder maple, is a straight-grained hardwood with a fine, even texture. One of the softest and lightest species of maple, it is easy to work, turn, and finish. It is commonly used to make baskets, boxes, musical instruments, and small ornamental objects.

The wood of the bur oak is notably hard and dense, with a coarse and typically uneven texture. The grain is prominently patterned with rays and pores, and the color ranges from light to medium brown, with an olive cast. This wood brings a rustic appeal to furniture, flooring, and cabinetry.

Callery pear is a dense hardwood with a straight grain and smooth texture. It takes a high polish and is well suited to fine detail work. It is used for musical instruments, turned objects, knife handles, and furniture, and its medium brown color can darken with age.

Castor-aralia is a relatively soft wood of medium density and texture, pale yellow to light brown in color. Its grain, which may be straight or slightly interlocked, has a unique appearance that is well-suited to ornamental purposes. This wood is often used for furniture and veneer.

Although it is classified as a softwood, Chinese juniper is moderately dense and durable. Red, orange, and brown hues in the heartwood make a dramatic contrast to the pale cream color of the sapwood. This aromatic wood is commonly used for decorative items, outdoor furniture, chests, and closet linings.

Chinese Scholar Tree is a dense hardwood with a coarse texture and yellowish-brown heartwood. It is strong and durable, with a degree of elasticity that helps it absorb shock. It is used for tool handles, wheel spokes, and furniture.

Crabapple is a dense hardwood with a fine, even texture and a pinkish to buff coloration. It is very hard and resistant to splitting, and it takes a smooth finish. It is used for small turned objects, tool handles, and specialty items.

Downy Hawthorn is a very dense hardwood with a fine, tight grain. It is hard and tough, allowing it to take a high polish. It is used for small durable objects such as tool handles and mallet heads.

Eastern red-cedar is a durable and aromatic softwood that is highly resistant to decay. The fine, even texture of this wood makes it easy to work, although knots and other irregularities tend to be present. It is commonly used for furniture, fencing, cedar chests, and pencils.

English oak is a strong, durable hardwood with a prominent grain. It is valued for its strength and resistance to decay, and it has long been used in structural timber, shipbuilding, and cabinetry.

European beech is a dense hardwood with a fine, even texture. Pale cream to light pink-brown in color, it machines and turns well, though it is sensitive to changes in moisture. It is commonly used for furniture, cabinetry, flooring, and tool handles.

Eastern larch, or European larch, is a dense and durable softwood. The wood is yellow to orange-brown in color, often with small knots and pronounced growth rings that can create interesting patterns. This wood resists rot well and is excellent for boats and decks.

The wood of the ginkgo tree is highly durable, of medium density, and resistant to splitting, warping, and cracking. Commonly used for cabinetry and furniture, this wood is known to finish well and has a striking appearance, with hues of light yellow to golden brown streaked with black.

Hackberry is a grainy hardwood, light brown to gray in color. It has similar properties to more expensive lumbers such as oak and ash, and is often used in their place to craft furniture and frames. It excels specifically in steam bending and is sought by makers of bentwood furniture.

Honey locust is a dense and durable hardwood, reddish-brown or golden-brown in color. The grain is most often straight or slightly irregular, with attractive patterns. Although sharp tools are required for turning, honey locust works easily for its hardness. Common applications include flooring, cabinetry, and outdoor furniture.

The soft, light-colored wood of Japanese falsecypress, an evergreen shrub native to Japan, is exceptionally resistant to decay. It is suitable for a wide range of applications, but most commonly used for construction and caskets.

Japanese yew is a softwood of medium density with a smooth, fine grain. Its orange-brown heartwood contrasts with lighter sapwood, and while it can be challenging to work due to its elasticity, it is valued for carving, bows, and decorative items.

Also known as European spruce, Norway spruce is a premium tonewood commonly used for violin front plates. It is both lightweight and strong, and typically has a straight grain. Its fine and uniform texture is ideal for carving and other decorative projects. For stringed instruments, select wood with thin late wood (dark lines) that are evenly-spaced.

Osage-orange is an extremely dense, hard hardwood with exceptional strength and durability. Its bright yellow to golden brown color deepens with age. It can be challenging to machine but finishes smoothly and is prized for fence posts, tool handles, and specialty woodworking.

Pecan is a dense, strong hardwood closely related to hickory. Its coarse texture and density can make it somewhat difficult to machine and finish smoothly. It features a striking contrast between light sapwood and darker heartwood and is commonly used for flooring, cabinetry, and tool handles.

Pekin lilac is a moderately dense hardwood with a fine, smooth texture and light brown coloration. It works easily and is well suited for turning and carving small objects.

Persimmon wood is exceptionally hard, dense, and fine-textured. The contrast of its pale yellow sapwood against the dark, ebony-like heartwood can create dramatic designs for furniture and turned objects. This durable wood was the traditional material for golf club heads and is commonly used for tool handles and cutting boards.

Pin oak is a sturdy hardwood, medium to coarse in texture, with a straight grain pattern. Its color ranges from light to medium brown, sometimes with a reddish tint. This wood is commonly used for flooring, furniture, cabinetry, and millwork.

Ponderosa pine is a heavy, knotty softwood that is reddish-brown in color. It has a straight grain and medium texture, and it is easy to work, glue, and finish. It is suitable for a wide range of applications, from furniture, doors, and window frames to interior woodwork.

Like other hard maples, red maple is moderately dense and strong without being heavy. Its color ranges from cream to reddish-brown and the grain is usually straight, but may be wavy and moderately figured. Because it is easy to shape and takes detail well, this wood is a good choice for cabinetry and turning.

Red oak is a dense hardwood, coarsely textured, and medium to reddish-brown in color. Its grain tends to have a pronounced appearance that brings visual interest to furniture, flooring, cabinetry, and veneer.

This is a medium-density softwood with an even texture and a grain pattern that can be straight or wavy. Its color is typically reddish brown. Red pine is commonly used for construction, light poles, and paper pulp.

River birch is a light reddish-brown hardwood with a grain that is generally straight or slightly wavy. It has a fine, even texture and is generally easy to work by hand and machine. It has a wide variety of uses, from plywood and veneer to small decorative objects.

Like other oak species, scarlet oak is hard and dense, with a coarse texture. Scarlet oak has a straight grain pattern and is medium brown with a reddish pink tint. Common uses include furniture, flooring, interior trim, and cabinetry.

Scots pine, also called Scotch pine, is a straight-grained softwood. The sapwood is white to pale yellow and the heartwood a light reddish-brown; pitch pockets are common. This wood is easy to work and often used for construction framing and rustic furniture.

Slippery elm is a durable hardwood of moderate density, with a coarse texture typical of elm species. The grain of this reddish brown wood is often interlocked, resulting in interesting and attractive patterns for furniture, paneling, and turned objects.

This hardwood is prized for its durability and attractive grain, which can be straight, rippled, or figured. Sugar maple has a fine texture and is heavy and dense, often weighing more than other species of maple and about the same as red oak. It is typically used for furniture, flooring, and woodworking.

Swamp white oak is a durable hardwood with coarse texture and straight to slightly wavy grain. Heartwood is light to medium brown; sapwood is pale. It is commonly used for flooring, furniture, and cabinetry.

Sweetgum is a moderately dense hardwood with a fine, uniform texture and light reddish-brown color. The grain is often interlocked, which can make it somewhat difficult to machine. Its consistent color and texture make it a good choice for veneer, furniture, and interior trim.

The wood of the tuliptree is light yellow to brown with occasional streaks of purple and green. It has a straight grain and moderate density, and it is suitable for outdoor applications as well as fine woodworking projects. Tuliptree withstands rot even better than white oak and is excellent for boat building.

Turkish filbert is a moderately dense hardwood with a close, even grain and light brown color. It works easily and is well-suited for small woodworking projects, carving, and specialty items.

White ash is a hard, dense hardwood with straight grain and coarse texture. Heartwood is light to medium brown; sapwood is pale. Common uses include furniture, flooring, cabinetry, and tool handles.

White oak is very hard and dense, with a medium to coarse texture; the grain tends to be straight and feature prominent rays. The wood is light to medium brown in color, and often used for flooring, furniture, boats, and exterior construction.

White spruce is a white to light yellow softwood with a straight and even grain pattern, white to light yellow in color. It is often selected for the tops (soundboards) of guitars and other musical instruments. Other common uses for white spruce include millwork and interior finish.

Willow wood is very strong, yet lightweight and flexible. The color of this medium-density hardwood ranges from creamy white to light brown; the texture is fine and uniform, with a grain that can be straight, irregular, or interlocked. It is easy to bend and carve, and it is commonly used to make woven baskets and cricket bats.

Black cherry is a durable hardwood of medium density. Its color ranges from pale pink to dark red-brown, and it will darken naturally over time. It is easy to work, bends well, and is highly sought-after for furniture, cabinetry, and woodworking.