Basswood

Scientific Name:
Tilia americana

Other Names and Species:

Beetree
Limetree
Linden
Linn

The sapwood of basswood is usually quite large and creamy white in color, while the heartwood is a smooth white to more of a pale pink-brown in color, sometimes with darker streaks. The wood has a fine uniform texture and indistinct grain that is straight. The wood is of a fine and uniform texture.

Weight:

approximately 26 lbs/cu.ft.

Use:

Basswood is most notable as a wood for carving, particularly because it is commonly found in thicknesses of up to 4″. Chip carvers use it extensively in boxes, trays, and clock faces.

It’s favorable for craft & wood painted projects. It is frequently used for food containers because it imparts no odor or taste onto the finished product. Basswood has been used for flooring, musical instruments, matches, trunks and blind slats.

General Characteristics:

Basswood is mostly recommended for wood carving. With basswood, finishing of some sort is reccommended as this species is not known to have a good resistance to attack from organisms. Basswood dries easily and degrades very little in the process.

Working Properties:

Basswood texture is soft, machines well and is easy to work with hand tools making it a premier carving wood. It holding properties fairly well, can be sanded and stained to a good smooth finish. It dries fairly rapidly with little distortion or degrade. It has fairly high shrinkage but good dimensional stability when dry.

Drying and Shrinkage:

It is a very soft wood, don’t bend well, but does dry easily with little downgrade, It has fairly high shrinkage but good dimensional stability when dry.

Our conclusion about Basswood are not recommended for flooring except you have good enough knowledge & experiences about care & maintenance the floors.

Index you maybe interesting in reading: Janka Hardness Hardwood Floor Scale

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