DISTRIBUTION: Eastern U.S., principally Northern and Lake states.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION: Birch has a white sapwood and light reddish brown heartwood. The wood is generally straight-grained with a fine, uniform texture, and is generally characterized by a plain, often curly or wavy pattern.
WORKING PROPERTIES: The wood works fairly easily, glues well with care, takes stain extremely well, and nails and screws satisfactorily where pre-boring is advised. It dries rather slowly with little degrade, but it has moderately high shrinkage, so is susceptible to movement in performance.
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES: Birch is a heavy wood, hard, and strong. It has very good benign properties, with good crushing strength and shock resistance.
AVAILABILITY: Reasonable availability, but more limited if selected for color.
MAIN USES: Furniture, millwork and paneling, doors, flooring, kitchen cabinets, turnings, and toys.