How do hardwoods, softwoods and manufactured boards differ, and how does a designer choose the right timber for a product?
Timbers used in product design: natural hardwoods and softwoods and manufactured boards, their key properties (strength, hardness, durability, workability, finish, cost) and how those properties guide material choice.
An SQA Higher Design and Manufacture answer on timbers, covering natural hardwoods and softwoods and manufactured boards, their key properties such as strength, durability, workability and cost, and how a designer matches a timber to the demands of a product.
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What this key area is asking
The SQA wants you to know the three families of timber used in product design - natural hardwoods, natural softwoods and manufactured boards - their key properties, and how a designer matches a timber to a product. The question paper asks you to justify a material choice or to explain why one timber suits a product better than another, usually for 3 to 5 marks. You are expected to reason from properties, not just name a wood.
The three families of timber
- Hardwoods
- From broadleaved trees such as oak, beech, ash, mahogany and balsa. Most are dense, strong, hard-wearing and durable with attractive grain, which suits quality furniture and flooring; but they grow slowly, so they cost more and can be harder to cut and shape. (Balsa is the exception - a very light, soft hardwood used for models.)
- Softwoods
- From coniferous trees such as pine (Scots pine, redwood), spruce (whitewood) and cedar. They grow quickly, so they are cheaper and more widely available, and they are lighter and easier to work. They suit construction, framing and general joinery, though many are less durable outdoors unless treated.
- Manufactured boards
- Made from wood waste or veneers bonded with adhesive. They have no grain direction and come in large, flat, dimensionally stable sheets, so they do not warp or split like a wide natural board:
- MDF (medium-density fibreboard) - fine fibres bonded under pressure; smooth, even surface that machines and paints well, but heavy and weak on screwed edges, and produces fine dust.
- Plywood - thin veneers glued with the grain at right angles in each layer, giving high strength for its weight and resistance to warping; marine ply is water-resistant.
- Chipboard - wood particles bonded with resin; cheap and used as a core for worktops and flooring, often veneered, but weak and absorbs water.
Key properties to reason from
The properties pull against each other just like design factors. A dense hardwood gives strength, durability and a fine finish but at higher cost and weight and harder working; a softwood is cheap, light and easy to work but often less durable; a manufactured board is stable, cheap and easy to machine but weaker and heavier than solid wood. The right choice is the one whose properties best fit the product and its market.
Where this fits in the course
Timbers are one of the three material groups in the Materials and Manufacture area, alongside metals and polymers. The question paper asks you to justify material choices, and your design assignment must choose and justify materials for your outcome. Knowing the properties of each timber family, and reasoning from them, earns marks in both.
Try this
Q1. Explain why a softwood such as pine is commonly used for the frame of a stud wall or a simple shelf unit. [3 marks]
- Cue. It is cheap, light and easy to work, and strong enough for framing where appearance is not critical.
Q2. Explain two advantages of plywood over solid timber for a curved or load-bearing panel. [4 marks]
- Cue. Cross-bonded veneers give high strength for weight and resist warping; large stable sheets suit panels.
Q3. Explain why a designer must consider durability when choosing a timber for an outdoor bench. [3 marks]
- Cue. Outdoor timber must resist moisture and rot, so a durable species (or a treated/finished one) is needed to give the bench a useful life.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of SQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
SQA Higher4 marksExplain why a manufactured board such as MDF might be chosen instead of a natural timber for a flat-pack cabinet.Show worked answer →
Worth about 4 marks, so the marker wants two developed reasons, each a
property linked to the product. The mark scheme rewards properties of
manufactured boards applied to the flat-pack cabinet.
Available in large, flat, stable sheets. MDF comes in big sheets that are
dimensionally stable and do not warp or have a grain direction, so large
flat panels can be cut from them without the cupping a wide natural board
would suffer, which suits flat-pack panels.
Low cost and smooth surface. MDF is cheaper than most natural hardwoods
and has a smooth, even surface that takes paint, veneer or melamine well,
so the cabinet can be finished cheaply to look good.
Consistent and easy to machine. With no knots or grain, MDF cuts and
routs cleanly and predictably on CNC machines, which suits batch
production of identical parts. A top answer notes the trade-off: MDF is
heavy, weaker on screwed edges and creates fine dust, so it is chosen when
stability, cost and finish matter more than strength.
SQA Higher3 marksExplain why a hardwood such as oak is often chosen for high-quality furniture.Show worked answer →
Worth about 3 marks. The markers want properties of the hardwood linked
to the product.
Strength and durability. Oak is dense, strong and hard-wearing, so
furniture made from it resists damage and lasts for many years, justifying
a higher price.
Attractive appearance. Oak has an attractive grain and colour and takes a
fine finish, which suits high-quality furniture where aesthetics matter.
A strong answer adds that the higher cost and harder working of oak are
accepted because the market for quality furniture values durability and
appearance over the lower price of a softwood or board.
Related dot points
- Metals used in product design: ferrous and non-ferrous metals and alloys, their key properties (strength, hardness, ductility, malleability, conductivity, corrosion resistance, cost) and how those properties guide material choice.
An SQA Higher Design and Manufacture answer on metals, covering ferrous and non-ferrous metals and alloys, their key properties such as strength, ductility, conductivity and corrosion resistance, and how a designer matches a metal to the demands of a product.
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An SQA Higher Design and Manufacture answer on polymers, covering thermoplastics and thermosetting plastics, their key properties such as formability, toughness and durability, common examples and uses, and how a designer matches a polymer to the demands of a product.
- Manufacturing processes for shaping materials: moulding and forming processes for polymers, casting and forming processes for metals, and cutting, shaping and joining for timbers, and matching a process to the material, form and scale of production.
An SQA Higher Design and Manufacture answer on manufacturing processes, covering moulding and forming of polymers (injection moulding, vacuum forming, blow moulding), casting and forming of metals, and shaping and joining of timbers, and how a designer matches a process to the material, the form and the scale of production.
- Surface finishes and methods of joining: finishes applied to timbers, metals and polymers and why they are used, and permanent and temporary fixings and fittings, including knock-down fittings.
An SQA Higher Design and Manufacture answer on surface finishes and methods of joining, covering finishes for timbers, metals and polymers and why they are applied, and permanent and temporary fixings and fittings including knock-down fittings used in flat-pack products.