Basswood

Scientific Name: Tilia Americana

Other Common Names: American Lime, Linden and American Whitewood

Basswood is a lightweight, easily worked hardwood from the Glacial region, renowned for its smooth texture and even grain, which make it excellent for carving and detail work. Its pale, consistent coloring ensures a uniform appearance across a variety of specialized applications.

With its fine texture and stability, Basswood is suited for hand-carved items and precision models, resisting splitting while offering a neutral canvas for high-quality finishes. This versatile wood is widely used for musical instruments, blinds, shutters, and ornamental mouldings.

Machining
Sanding
Finishing
Gluing
Fastening

Screwing/Nailing

Quick Fact:

Basswood’s softness enables easy chopping, ripping, and shaping, making it a popular choice for detailed woodworking.

What’s Basswood Used For?
  • Furniture
  • Mouldings
  • Shutters Blinds
  • Boxes/Crates
  • Packing Material
  • Musical
  • Instruments
  • Toys
  • Drawer sides
Why Basswood?
  • Workable and very lightweight
  • Carving, turnings and detail-friendly
  • Consistent smooth texture
  • Reliable for paint and staining
  • Economical to ship due to light weight

NWH Glacial is available as PEFC certified, FSC Mix Credit, FSC Controlled Wood or PEFC Controlled Sources.

How Does Basswood Compare To Other North American Hardwood Species?

Lumber
(12 % moisture content)
MachiningSandingFinishingGluingFastening/
Nailing/
Screwing
Weight
per bdft
Specific
Gravity
(Density)
Hardness
(Janka)
Bending
Strength
(MOR)
Bending
Stiffness
(MOE)
Dimensional
Movement
(Shrinkage)
R (%)
Dimensional
Movement
(Shrinkage)
T (%)
Alder101010972.45.415909,8001,3804.47.3
Ash9109863.56.611,32015,0001,7404.97.8
Basswood10109882.50.374108,7001,4606.69.3
Beech8810883.69.641,26014,9001,7205.511.9
Cherry10910973.07.5295012,3001,4903.77.1
Hickory377334.14.671,82013,7001,7304.98.9
Hard Maple9810943.73.641,45015,8001,8304.89.9
PC Maple9910952.74.5085010,7001,4503.77.1
Soft Maple8910953.19.5595013,4001,6404.08.2
Red Oak (Northern)10109973.64.631,22014,3801,7614.08.6
Oregon White Oak999884.34.721,64010,2001,0904.29.0
White Oak (Eastern)9109773.94.681,35014,3801,7624.48.8
Poplar9810962.81.4354010,1001,5804.68.2
Walnut989773.36.561,01014,6001,6805.57.8
Yellow Birch10810823.53.621,26016,6002,0107.39.5

Grades Available

NWH’s proprietary grades are designed to maximize yield and deliver consistent performance by controlling key structural and dimensional characteristics to optimize cutting structure and maximize your profits.
3 Grades Available
Basswood Select & Better is our highest grade, yielding at a minimum 83-1/3% clear face cutting ...
Applications
  • Carvings
  • Musical Instruments
  • Veneer
  • Plywood
Basswood #1 Common boards yield, at a minimum, 66-2/3% clear face cuttings with minimum cutting size...
Applications
  • Carvings
  • Musical Instruments
  • Veneer
  • Plywood
Basswood #2A is designed to yield shorter cuttings with the best face yielding a minimum of 50% clea...
Applications
  • Carvings
  • Musical Instruments
  • Veneer
  • Plywood