Working with wood often requires you to have knowledge about what type of grain it has. It helps you determine the kind of project the wood will be suitable for. A tight grain structure is pretty suitable for making furniture in general. The aesthetically pleasing look of a tight grain wood will please the eyes in the vicinity of your home. So we decided to give you a hand with this list of the top 6 woods with the tightest grain.
The top 6 woods with the tightest grain are: Mahogany, Black Walnut, Teak, Cherry, Maple, and Birch. All these woods have smooth, fine, or tight grain and they are wonderful to work with. Especially black walnut is a very beautiful wood and used throughout the U.S. by woodworkers.
Tight grain is sometimes referred to as fine-grain or smooth grain by woodworkers. So don’t be confused by it if it is mentioned like that on some websites. Also, don’t confuse tight grain with closed grain, since it has a different meaning but closed grain wood can be tight as well. Tight grain wood is chosen mostly for aesthetic purposes as it looks amazing for furnishing.
1. Mahogany
Mahogany wood is said to have the tightest grain structure in all woods that woodworkers use. It is incredibly dense, heavy, and very elegant when it comes to looks. People use mahogany wood for making furniture, specifically tables and beds. But it is very expensive throughout the world, specifically genuine mahogany tops the list when it comes to price alone.
There are many types of mahogany circulating the market, so it becomes very hard to differentiate the genuine article from its relative species. Most of the relative species have varying similarities, but there are subtle differences amongst them that can be used to tell them apart. Regardless, most of the usable mahogany species are expensive in the market.
There are also some other woods that are named mahogany but are not at all. A big example of it is the Santos Mahogany which is named as such but is not even related or belongs to the mahogany family species. Those woods are named as such because they have some similarities to the mahogany wood when it comes to the look.
Mahogany is very expensive so it is particularly hard to get, but if you do have the money to spare it is one of the most elegant woods you will ever work with. It is worth its expensive price, as it is very easy to work with and once you are done you will be glad you spent that extra cash on this wood.
2. Black Walnut
Black walnut is very common throughout the USA and is one of the best woods to work with. Walnut comes in different shades, the core wood is darker, the outer sapwood is light in colour. It can be a tad bit expensive, but still pretty affordable if you compare it to something like mahogany.
The wood is very forgiving and easy to work with. Unlike mahogany which does not plane very well and fuzzes up a bit requiring you to scrape the surface, black walnut planes are really clean.
With its tight grain structure and beautiful look, it is meant for making furniture that will be the spotlight of your home. Plus, with the ease it cuts and cleans, the possibilities are endless. You can do pretty much anything with walnut, and with the dark colour of black walnut, it suits every application.
It also accepts finishes like stains really well without botching. With the dark colour of walnut, its natural colour is more than enough to highlight its grain structure. So something like a clear finish would suit it better than a stain.
But you can use a stain or whatever suits you better as a finish. So overall, walnut is a fine wood, it is the most well-rounded tight grain wood and is also widely available.
3. Teak
Teak is a very unique choice of wood to make furniture out of. It has a very tight grain structure and looks beautiful but that is not what makes it unique. There are many tight grain woods out there, what makes Teak unique is the fact that oils in the wood naturally repel insects.
It is also very resistant to rot and does not require you to apply an oil-based finish on it since its natural oils do a really good job to preserve itself. So the best course of action if you do use teak wood to make furniture is to apply a clear finish on top of it.
On top of being a natural wood repelling wood that helps it prevent from having termite infestation, it is also very resistant to the elements. So snow, rain, and the sun do not affect it as much as other woods. However, the sun can cause the teak wood to become grey and its natural colour to fade. So it is often a good idea to apply a coat of stain and then a UV inhibitor mixed with a clear coat finish.
The best use for teak wood with a tight grain structure is to use it for outdoor furniture like outdoor dining tables and sofas. It is best suited for outdoor furniture and is used for that purpose. It is slightly expensive though due to its high demand. So getting your hand on it might be difficult on a low budget.
4. Cherry
Cherry is one of the best choices of wood for making indoor furniture. It is absolutely beautiful and its colour just makes it one of the favourite woods for indoor furniture. Not to mention the tight grain makes it a marvel to look at. It has a dark and very elegant look to it that does not require any stain and as it ages the colour just gets deeper. Though if you do feel like applying stain to it, it accepts it pretty well without botching if you have prepared it properly.
In our opinion, though cherry would be wasted if you stained it, just use a clear coat of oil-based varnish on it instead. The added shine to the beauty of the wood will just improve its look twice a fold.
Cherry just like most tight grain woods on the list is slightly more expensive than what other woods would cost. It is less expensive than teak and mahogany but still, it is a premium wood and costs as such.
Once it is dried off and prepared for woodworking by professionals it becomes easy to work with. Woodworkers favour cherry and walnut the most in the U.S. due to how easy it is to work on projects with these woods.
5. Maple
Maple is a very durable wood often preferred to be used for flooring. Its durability is exemplary when it comes to taking abuse. This is why most basketball courts and bowling alleys are made of maple. It can bear the brunt of running around and the ball pounding on its surface continuously without trouble.
Maple looks really beautiful as well, the other woods on our list might be really elegant but maple has a well-rounded look that allows it to be used for most applications. But it really shines best as hardwood flooring, and gives the house a warm and comfortable look and feel. It has a tight grain that shines through when you apply the right kind of finish to it.
The best part about using maple for your wooden projects is that it is not as expensive as any of the other woods on the list. It is pretty much affordable for most woodworkers, which makes it all the more appealing. It is widely available and has a few varieties available as well, like silver maple. It is available throughout the U.S. and Canadian region, so finding it at any hardware store is not difficult.
6. Birch
While birch is not the tightest grain wood that you could find, it comes in a variety of grain patterns. This makes birch quite unique to this list as you can find smooth, fine, and tight grain birch as well as wavy and loose grain birch too. When it comes to pricing, birch is as expensive as maple, so it’s pretty much affordable but not as cheap as some other woods like pine.
Birch is very light-colored, which makes it perfect for you to experiment with different shades of stain. Water-based stains are the best choice for birch wood and it takes to it very well. It is also durable, preferred for usually making furniture indoors.
If taken care of, it can be a pretty durable wood and will last you a long time. It is very easy to work with and is forgiving if you use power tools to cut or carve it. It’s hard to structure gives it an edge which allows woodworkers to use power tools on it without any drawbacks.
FAQ
Is smooth and fine grain wood the same as tight grain?
Yes, if you ever read the term tight grain means smooth or fine-grain wood. It is pretty much used synonymously for these terms and vice versa. Tight grain wood means that the grain structure looks like it’s very close and tightly spaced.
Does close grain wood mean it is tight-grained?
No, close-grained wood does not always mean it is tight-grained. They are used to define different terms and should be taken as so. Closed grain wood is actually referring to the pores on the grain which are very small and have a smooth surface. Most hardwoods are close-grained, but not all of them as there are open grained hardwoods like oak as well.
Is it easier to work with tight grain wood than woods with other or loose grain structures?
It is not necessary that it is easier to work with tight grain wood, mahogany fuzzes up when you plane it making it slightly less easy to work with than the other woods on the list. The hardness of the wood, and some other factors along with the grain structure determine if the wood is easier to work with or not.
Final Thoughts
All the woods in our list are different and react differently than each other. But working with any of these top 6 tight-grained woods will give you the satisfaction of an elegant look and beauty. Hopefully, this list helps you choose the tight grain wood you need for your next project.
