Material: Pine, Poplar, Oak, Cherry.
Janka Hardness (Higher = Harder): Pine: 420, Poplar: 540, Cherry: 950, Oak: 1290.
Density (lbs/cubic ft): Pine, Poplar = 30. Oak, Cherry = 45.
Moisture Content: All wood is dried to a 7-9% moisture content to minimize swelling and cracks.
All woods are all selected at furniture grade quality levels to ensure uniform characteristics and appearance for each wood type.
Pine: White Pine. White pine wood is straight-grained softwood with an even medium texture. It also tends to feature quite a few dark knots, as pine trees grow branches down almost the entire trunk of the tree. Most are familiar with white pine as a soft white color, sometimes with a touch of yellow to it. Pine is an economical material, stains nicely and, since our tables are already distressed, can be an excellent choice. Even furniture grade select white pine will have some knots that can bleed through surfaces, particularly with lighter colors. However, knots do add character to distressed wood tops. Bleed through on painted finishes can be avoided with a poplar, oak or maple top. Bleed through on stained finishes can be avoided with a maple or oak top.
Poplar: Poplar is one of the most common hardwoods in the United States. The wood is straight grained, uniform in texture and moderate to light weight. It has a medium density, machines and glues well. Pine is a softwood while poplar is a soft hardwood. There is really not much difference in the strength between pine and poplar. Poplar is better for painted finishes to avoid knots which can be present in pine.
Oak: When it comes to choosing hardwood for a custom table, many people consider oak. It’s a good choice as oak is one of the most durable types of wood as well as one of the most readily available. Forested throughout the U.S. Oak is also considered more environmentally friendly as it has a much lower carbon footprint than more exotic woods. It is a light to medium brown, commonly with a reddish cast. The grain is straight, with a coarse, uneven and distinct texture and pattern. The wood is hard, tough and durable. It can be stained or painted but the grain will still be visible.
Cherry: Cherry is a hardwood with a fine, straight grain that ranges from reddish-brown to blond. It has medium density, with good wood bending properties, medium strength and shock resistance, but low stiffness, and can be steam bent with care. It resists warping and shrinking, even in the most humid environments. It is highly prized for furniture and interior joinery. Particularly good for detailing and carving, cherry is good for making such furniture for the home as armoires, dining room tables, nightstands, and dressers. Natural cherry wood does oxidize when exposed to UV lights, causing it to gradually darken over time. In most cases, 80% of the oxidation happens in the first year. If the wood is in a particularly sunny spot, most of this oxidation will likely occur in the first three months This color change is most noticeable with natural or light stain finishes.

Wood Check Cracks: Our wood tables are constructed from real trees and/or solid planks of wood, not engineered wood, and professionally dried to 6 – 12% moisture content before any build. Solid wood adjusts to the moisture content in the air at different times of the year. In a sense, the wood breathes just like us. Therefore, the temperature and humidity of your home will affect how your table behaves. To avoid this problem, cabinets and other case goods are normally built with furniture grade panels consisting of internal alternating grain wood sheets sandwiched by outside sheets of finished wood. This type of construction does not work well for most table tops, so we use a glued wood plank construction. As a result, you may notice your table and/or breadboard move slightly or develop small check cracks or dips. You may also notice occasional lifting on the epoxy or resin fills we use in processing our reclaimed wood tables. THIS IS PERFECTLY NORMAL. This is the inherent character of planked wood construction and is not considered a defect in material, nor will affect the structural integrity of the table.