Popular American Appalachian Hardwoods

Hard, heavy, and reliable words one may use to describe American Appalachian hardwoods. Each American hardwood is unique, with unrivaled beauty, durability, and versatility. A geographical marvel, the Appalachian region in North America bestows us with these hardwood species.

As one of the most sought-after premium lumber, Appalachian hardwoods are genuinely some of the most durable hardwoods a craftsman can get. Gutchess Lumber takes pride in offering our customers some of the finest Appalachian hardwoods. Here are the American hardwood species to help fulfill your woodworking needs.

Ash

Growing to 80 feet with a crown that spreads over 50 feet wide, White Ash wood has a medium to coarse texture that is almost always straight and regular. White Ash lumber is light to medium brown. With strength and resilience, this hardwood retains its region’s commitment to producing premium hardwood.

Our White Ash hardwood is dense with bright white sapwood, light tan heartwood, and uniform, well-defined annual growth rings. Commonly used in furniture, tool handles, guitar bodies, lobster traps, and flooring, White Ash lumber turns well and retains extreme strength.

Basswood

American Basswood grows between 50 and 80 feet in height with a 30-foot to 50-foot spread. Ranging from pale white to light brown with a straight, fine-grain pattern, this hardwood is a soft, lightweight wood.

The light density of basswood lumber makes it well-suited for woodenware, crates, blinds, and internal furniture parts.

Cherry

The Black Cherry (Prunus serotina) can grow between 25 and 110 feet tall.  Due to its malleability and the wide distribution of the seeds of its fruit by birds, the Black Cherry has always been in abundance in North America. Black Cherry wood features a fine, straight grain and a light pink-brown to medium reddish-brown color.

Black Cherry hardwood from our region is one of the most valued hardwood species with its rich red heartwood, beautiful grain patterns, and minimal gum spots. Uses for kiln-dried cherry lumber include fine furniture, cabinets, paneling, flooring, doors, recreational vehicle interiors, string instruments, coffins, and carvings.

Hickory

Hickory trees grow to heights of 65 feet to 100 feet, with trunks growing to 1 foot to 2 feet in diameter. With a Janka Hardness ranking of 1,880 lbf, Hickory boasts excellent strength and shock resistance, making it desirable for products such as cabinets, tool handles, axles and shafts, bows, skis, paddles, furniture, and flooring. Hickory wood lumber heartwood features light to medium brown with red undertones, while the sapwood is pale, yellowish-brown.

Hard Maple

This maple hardwood species grows from 50 to 80 feet and features a fine, even-textured grain. Hard Maple is a dense hardwood noted for its sturdiness and density. As a result, it has high resistance to abrasion and wear and is prized for furniture, cabinets, stairs, mouldings and millwork, coffins, and flooring. It is also used for gym and basketball courts, bowling alleys, bowling pins, rolling pins, other turnings, skateboard decks, baseball bats, billiard cues, cutting blocks, and various musical instruments.

Soft Maple

Soft Maple grows between 30 feet to 100 feet in height, and its close-grained sapwood is generally creamy white and its heartwood reddish-brown. Soft Maple trees were dubbed for their soft leaves in the autumn, but it is also known as the Scarlet Maple, Red Maple, the Drummond Red Maple, the Carolina Red Maple, the Swamp Maple, the Trident Maple, and the Water maple.

Red Oak

The Red Oak tree can grow up to 24 inches annually and reach a mature height of 60 to 90 feet. Red Oak wood color ranges from light to medium brown with red undertones and is strong, durable, easy to work with, and consistent in color and texture. Kiln-dried Red Oak is commonly used in furniture, cabinets, doors, panels, moldings, and millwork, floors, and caskets.

White Oak

White Oak trees can grow as large as 100 feet tall and reach a mature age within 20 years. It is an extraordinarily durable wood type with incredible water-resistance properties as its wood pores are plugged by tyloses, making it harder for water to cause decay and rot. This makes it the ideal choice for shipbuilding and whiskey and wine barrels.

White Oak has a light brown heartwood and slightly paler sapwood and is strong, tough, dense, tight-grained, durable, and beautiful.

Poplar

Poplar lumber is a substantial species, growing 130 to 160 feet tall with a trunk diameter of 6 feet to 8 feet. White Poplar is a light, soft hardwood with sapwood that is white or light green cast. Our White Poplar lumber is harvested from prime timberland in the northern Appalachian region of Pennsylvania near our manufacturing facilities. It is often used in furniture, moldings and millwork, paneling, panels, carvings, crates, and picture frames.

Walnut

Black Walnut grows between 75 feet and 130 feet tall with a trunk diameter of 2 feet to 3 feet. American Black Walnut has beautiful dark red heartwood and steamed dark sapwood. Applications for Black Walnut lumber include furniture, paneling, cabinets, doors, paddles, coffins, flooring, and rifle stock. This hardwood is an exceptional example of this region’s ability to produce highly durable, premium lumber.

American Appalachian hardwood is for those who appreciate lumber’s natural beauty, durability, and quality. A true testament to nature’s craftsmanship, this Appalachian hardwood is exceptionally alluring, with plenty to offer.