Cherry is a premium hardwood used in cabinet making. Typically, Cherry has a reddish-brown colour with golden hues and a fantastic grain pattern.

Cherry is strong, with good shock impacts making it perfect for indoor furniture. It also has good rot and decay resistance making it a good option for outdoor furniture. However, the surface must be properly finished to avoid UV damage from the sun.

Cherry can also be used to make curved products as it bends well. Woodturners also use Cherry when turning as the grain is tight and provides a lustrous finish.

Advantages:

Durable, strong furniture with a beautiful pattern,

Stains well, enhancing the grain,

Resistant to rot and decay for outdoor furniture, and

Once kiln dried, Cherry is extremely stable.

Ash is sometimes used as a replacement for Oak, leaving a “Golden Oak” finish. There are 45-65 species of Ash globally, with White Ash the favourable choice due to its beautiful grain, relative lightweight and strength.

Ash furniture will hold up really well to general wear and tear. It has extremely good shock resistance and is used to make many handles for woodworking tools, as well as sports equipment, such as baseball bats.

Ash is often used for flooring for the same reasons as above, however it is also used in curved applications as it bends well, making it a unique choice of hardwood as these woods are usually difficult to bend due to their relative hardness and density.

Advantages:

Beautiful, open grain leaving fiery patterns,

Very hard and durable leaving little maintenance,

Less expensive than Oak whilst maintaining similar properties, and

Used for curved applications.

Burr Oak is in the White Oak family. It is usually peppered with small, clustered knots and provides a beautiful live edge. In some cases, slabs can be completely covered in small knots. Due to their desirability, these are a very expensive option and therefore veneers are made from this wood for extremely high-end furniture.

Trunk diameters can reach up to 3m, meaning large dining table tops can be produced using a single slab.

Burr Oak makes really stunning furniture and is a firm favourite of The Wood and Resin Co.

Advantages:

Incredible burr and grain allowing for a truly amazing centre piece,

Hard and durable, whilst being extremely stable,

Perfect wood to use for resin pours, especially due to the live edge, and

Creates beautiful, artistic ornaments and is great for turning.

Oak is arguably the most popular wood used in households, after softwoods.

There are over 600 species of oak , most of which are sourced in Europe and North America.

Oak is a hardwood, it is heavy and dense with very close grain. There is a high tannin content in oak so, unless the furniture is properly sealed, be careful not to spill liquids as this can react and stain your wood.

Different variants include Burr Oak, Pippy Oak and Brown Oak, as well as the more commonly known European Oak.

Advantages:

Durable, long lasting furniture,

Desirable finish with an attractive grain,

Can be stained easily, and

Very stable, less likely to warp compared to other woods.

English, French and North American Walnut are the most common types. American Black Walnut, as it is called, is generally much darker than european walnut. You’ll also find there are purple streaks towards the heart wood.

Walnut is very heavy, durable and usually has a straight grain. It is not uncommon for walnut to have an irregular grain though, especially with variants such as Claro Walnut, Bastogne Walnut and English Walnut.

Walnut is usually more costly than oak, it is considered a premium domestic hardwood.

Advantages:

Durable, hard wearing furniture,

Desirable finish, darker and considered more luxurious than oak, with a similar grain,

Can be stained and steam bended fairly well, and

Extremely stable, resists warping and twisting.

There are numerous different types of Elm. Although Elm is a hardwood, some variants are softer than softwoods (in terms of density).

Elm is similar to the shade of oak, although generally cheaper as it is not as dense or tough.

Elm is strong and very resistant to water, so much so that English towns used to use elm for their water mains before iron and steel.

The grain is twisted yet durable.

Advantages:

Steam bends easily, useful for chairs or other furniture where curves are needed,

Produces a nice finish,

The grain can be similar to tiger stripes, thus leaving a striking finish, and

Can be turned easily, such as table legs.