AKA: Grey birch, silver birch, hard birch, American birch
What: Tree usually reaches 65’ in height. Birch is often the first tree to grow in cleared land, but starts to die once other trees move in and offer shade.
Where: Found in Eastern Canada and US. White birch is not a species, but a combination of paper and/or grey birch. Red birch is also not a species, but refers to the heartwood of yellow birch
Properties: Straight-grained wood with fine even texture. Birch is about as hard as red oak (Janka 1260). The coloring is a cream or light brown color tinged with red.
Workability: Works well, but some swirly or irregular grain can be difficult to machine without tear out. Once stained, color differences are less pronounced. Birch stains easier than maple, especially in the dark colors.
Uses: Furniture, joinery, flooring, turning, plywood, upholstery frames, firewood, toy parts, tongue depressors, tooth picks, paper pulp