Thank you for this link!

Ken


"No" wrote in message ...
DadOh has it correct. See http://www.diyprojects.info/bb/ftopic14689.html
for more info.

I'll quote part.
Q: A Softwood is a soft wood and a Hardwood is a hard wood. Right?
A: False. A softwood is the wood of a conifer (or a Ginkgo), a hardwood is
the wood of a dicot tree. The hardest hardwood is some three times as hard
as the hardest softwood, but the hardest softwood is some four times as
hard
as the softest hardwood. The softest woods in the world are hardwoods.


"Ken Moiarty" wrote in message
news:VMIAe.1939321$Xk.246912@pd7tw3no...
Just replaced the rotted and broken wooden handles of a wheelbarrow with
ready-made new ones. In addition, I also replaced two "wedge" shaped
wood pieces which go between the handles and the metal 'tub'. In looking
for suitable lumber to cut these wedges out of, I assumed it should be
hardwood (as opposed to softwood), for strength, durability, etc. I went
to the hardwood craft section at HomeDepot, but could not find any
hardwood boards of the necessary minimum dimensions (i.e. nothing as
large
as 2x4). But right in the midst of the hardwood selections, I noticed 4
foot lengths of fir 2x4 which looked and felt much sturdier than the full
length fir 2x4s sold in the main lumber aisle.. The price was also about
6 times greater (per lineal foot)!

After probing it a bit with my pocket knife, my reasoned intuition told
me
that this hardier softwood was probably what the wheelbarrow handles
themselves were made of and thus what actually was needed afterall. I
brought some home and started work on it. When cutting and drilling, I
quickly realized this wood was much thougher and/or harder to cut through
than ordinary softwood; reminiscent of some previous experience with oak
hardwood. I proceeded to complete the wheelbarrow repairs and the
wheelbarrow works just fine now, thank you very much g. But what's got
me writing about this is my incidental curiosity: Can anybody explain to
me how it can be that this softwood board I bought should be so much
sturdier than the more commonly used, less expensive boards, composed
(apparently) of the very same variety of tree (i.e. Douglas Fir)? Does
it
have a designation, name or commonly used adjective one can use to
specify
it by?. Is (or was) this more robust grade of softwood lumber ever used
for house framing, like where greater strength/solidity is desired (and
lots of money is not)?

Thanx,

Ken