Beech

American beech (Fagus grandifolia) is a pale, cream-colored domestic hardwood with a straight grain and fine-to-medium texture — close enough to hard maple in hardness and looks that it spends most of its career standing in for it at a lower price.

Working Properties

Beech machines well, glues and finishes without a fuss, and bends beautifully under steam — historically the wood of choice for bent chair parts (Thonet's classic bentwood chairs are beech, for good reason). Its one real weak spot is dimensional stability: it moves more than most domestic hardwoods with humidity, so wide panels need generous room to breathe.

Safety

Beech isn't naturally durable and invites insect damage in storage — keep stock dry and off the ground, or it'll find out the hard way.

Typical Uses

Furniture, flooring, bent chair parts, turned objects, and tool handles.