Name Honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos)
Type Hardwood.
Other Names Also known as locust, sweet locust, and thorny locust.
Sources Grows in United States and Canada.
Appearance Straight grained with light red to reddish brown heartwood and yellowish sapwood.
Physical Props Heavy, hard, and strong with moderately high shock resistance and stiffness. Very decay resistant heartwood. Stable in use.
Working Props Can be difficult to machine. Pre-drilling required for screwing or nailing. Stains and finishes well.
Uses Used for fenceposts and rails, posts, beams, crossties, rough construction, dowels, concealed furniture parts, decks, chests, chairs, tables, and miscellaneous interior construction.
Comments Limited availability.

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Name Hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana)
Type Hardwood.
Other Names Also known as ironwood or poor man's lignumvitae.
Sources Grows in United States, Ontario and parts of Mexico.
Appearance Fine grained with inconspicuous growth rings. Whitish sapwood and whitish to light brown heartwood, tinged with red.
Physical Props Very hard, heavy, strong, and shock resistant. Exceptional wear resistance. Low dimemsional stability and decay resistance.
Working Props Works like stone - dulls blades, produces lots of smoke during machining, and always requires pre-drilling for screws and nails.
Uses Used for splitting wedges, mallet heads, tool handles, levers, skids, canes, novelties, vehicle parts, dowels, drawer slides, utility furniture, furniture components, and fuel.

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Name European Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus)
Type Hardwood.
Other Names Also known as hornbeam, avenbok, haagbeuk, vitbok.
Sources Grows in Europe and Asia Minor.
Appearance Usually irregular or cross grained with a fine even texture and dull white heartwood and sapwood marked with gray streaks.
Physical Props Heavy, hard, and tough (similar to ash) with high bending, crushing, and shear strength, medium stiffness and shock resistance, high movement in service and low decay resistance, Very resistant to splitting and steam-bends well.
Working Props Somewhat difficult to work due to toughness. Glues, stains and finishes well.
Uses An excellent turnery wood, often used for drum sticks, billiard cue butts, skittles, and brushbacks. Also used for flooring (due to high wear resistance), musical instrument parts, pulleys, cogs, mallets, wooden pegs, and veneer.

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Name Horse Chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum)
Type Hardwood.
Other Names Also known as buckeye in the United States.
Sources Found in Europe, India, China, Japan, and N. America.
Appearance Very fine texture, often with a spiral grain, white color with occasional light gray streaks.
Physical Props Light weight, low ratings for decay resistance, stiffness, and bending strength. Steam-bends well.
Working Props Works easily with hand and machine tools but sharp edges essential. Satisfactory screwing, nailing, gluing, and finishing properties.
Uses Used for utensils, boxes, basket, food storage containers, handles (including brushes and tennis rackets), turnery, interior trim, and decorative veneers.
Comments Sometimes used as a substitute for holly.

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