# Ring porous trees



## ArborM (Apr 17, 2012)

Are there other trees that are ring porous angiosperms other than Oaks? If so, what are some examples. Also from a timber perspective are these trees the strongest hardwood?


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## bootboy (Apr 17, 2012)

Ash. While not "the strongest" it's pretty tough stuff. I've never seen a wooden shovel handle made from anything but. Most MLB bats are made from ash as well. I'm not sure if hickory meets your definition of "ring porous". 

There are different measurements of the strength of wood, but most anyway you slice it, for North American hard woods you'll find ash and hickory among the top 5 on every list.


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## Pelorus (Apr 17, 2012)

I think there is an Ontario company that is making MLB bats out of sugar maple. Bowling pins are made out of maple as well? I enjoy making axe / maul handles out of ash and ironwood.


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## buzz sawyer (Apr 17, 2012)

Pelorus said:


> I think there is an Ontario company that is making MLB bats out of sugar maple. Bowling pins are made out of maple as well? I enjoy making axe / maul handles out of ash and ironwood.



I believe you are correct on the B bats and B pins. The ash bats split too easily. 
Is Catalpa ring porous?


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## Pelorus (Apr 17, 2012)

Maple Baseball Bats | Wood Baseball Bats By MaxBat 
Their website says "Our maple kicks ash"


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## bootboy (Apr 17, 2012)

I stand corrected. I would have thought while very hard, maple would be a bit brittle. My Louisville slugger is ash.


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## beastmaster (Apr 17, 2012)

Osage-orange is a ring porous tree often used to make Bows, Honey locust also comes to mind, and is a hard wood.


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## formationrx (Apr 17, 2012)

*...*

maple... back in the day it was used for block pulleys... its the also the best wood for power transfer.... like on a belt system set up...


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## forestryworks (Apr 18, 2012)

Microscopic Wood Anatomy

Check the first chart under Dicots.


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## ArborM (Apr 18, 2012)

Thanks for all the input. I really appreciate it!


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## ATH (Apr 19, 2012)

You asked 2 questions:



ArborM said:


> Are there other trees that are ring porous angiosperms other than Oaks? If so, what are some examples.



forestryworks gave you what you need for this one 



ArborM said:


> Also from a timber perspective are these trees the strongest hardwood?


You got all kinds of shots in the dark (relatively dark....maybe more of a dusk) for this one

When you say "are these the strongest hardwood" do you mean ring porous or oak? Either way the answer is "no" - one is just "no" (oak) the other is "not even close" (ring porous).

Be prepared to wait for the 15MB download, but here is your answer: Wood as an Engineering Material
To really understand, you need to read chapters 5 and 9. For a quick glance, see the charts in chapter 5 on pdf pages 108-110

Note that "strength" can mean different things: compression bending, sheer, stiffness. And the 'strongest' will depend on which defintion you are looking for, so there is no easy answer to the quesion of which wood is the strongest.


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