What Can You Tell Me About Using Red Birch for Cabinets?

Red Birch

• The red birch tree (Betula nigra) is one of as many as 50 species of birch trees found throughout Asia, North America and Europe. Red birch is also commonly called river birch, water birch and black birch. Since its wood is of limited commercial importance compared to yellow birch (B. alleghaniensis), sweet birch (B. lenta) and paper birch (B. papyrifera), it is unprofitable to raise for large-scale manufacture. Red birch wood is used for making inexpensive furnishings, prosthetic limbs and children's toys.

Strength

• Specific gravity measures wood density relative to that of water. Woods with specific gravity of less than 1.0 sink in pure water. The hardest American woods measure between 0.80 and 0.95 compared with tropical American balsa, one of the softest, lightest weight woods at 0.17. The specific gravity of fresh yellow birch wood is 0.55; red birch measures 0.49. Yellow birch is strong and resilient enough to be used as wood flooring material.

Grain and Color

• The fine grain of yellow birch results from the uniformly sized pores that are distributed evenly across the growth rings. Its grain is visually compatible with more expensive woods such as cherry and maple. Yellow birch's sapwood is white, and the heartwood is reddish in color. A steaming process blends birch's heartwood and sapwood colors. The wood will not darken with exposure to sunlight as does cherry wood.

Working With Birch

• Professional cabinet artisans use red birch (B. alleghaniensis) as a structural base for cabinetry. Red birch is also a suitable hardwood for cabinet doors and drawer fronts. Yellow birch wood demonstrates above average to average workability in steam bending, shaping, planing, turning and boring. Red birch is often finished with a natural wash. Wood is a natural product and is expected to exhibit variations in color and grain, giving each piece its distinctively desirable character.