Question

Name the tree, the timber which could be used for the following. A hard durable timber used for ship building and furniture making.

Answer 1

Hint:
There are several right answers to this question as various kinds of woods and timbers are used for furniture as well as ship building. The very common example is teak. Now you must list down some more with their uses.

Complete solution:
The type of woods used for furniture are Maple, Oak Wood, Cherry Wood, Pine Wood, Cedar Wood, Birch, Mahogany, Walnut. For example, rosewood proves to be a great choice for building a guitar as it provides fine sounds and looks great. Now these can be differentiated into hardwoods and softwoods and used according to the requirement.

Some examples of hardwoods are oak, maple, mahogany, ash, birch, maple, cherry and walnut. Hardwood is durable, expensive then softwood because it grows slowly compared to soft, dense and resistant to fire and very commonly used in flooring.

Softwood grows faster and absorbs more adhesive. It is light weight which makes it ideal for furniture and commonly used as building material for framings, fittings, interior and exterior wall cladding etc. Some examples are pine, red cedar, white spruce, larch.

As in case of ship building, Teak, Totara and some cedars have some chemical properties due to which they are able to prevent rot. Getting into more details, timber usage in the construction of boats or the building industry goes way back. Mentioning below some of the common boat building timbers -

- Ash - It is hardwood, has an excellent strength for weight ratio however it does not discolor with exposure. It bends easily and has fairly good rot resistance.
- Cedar - There are basically three cedars we’ll talk about here. Yellow cedar is known to be the highest of all the cedars. It has tight grain, easy to work upon, exceptional resistance to rot and weathering. Red cedar has stability and rich color and a resistance to decay. Lebanon cedar provides good finish and straight grain.
- Cypress - It is called an excellent choice when used for structural requirements. It also provides cypressee, a preservative oil which provides natural durability. It is stable, resistant, strong.
- Oak - An example of hardwood. It is very strong but is prone to shrinkage, swelling and cracking.

Note:
Plywood and specifically marine ply is also popular for amateur construction. Pine, Teak, Sitka Spruce, Iroko, Fir, Elm, Chestnut are also used in ship building and furniture according to their properties.