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Discover the natural beauty and enduring strength of hardwood. Perfect for furniture making, cabinetry, flooring, and custom woodworking projects, our hardwood selection includes a wide variety of species such as maple, ash, walnut, birch, cherry, and more. Whether you’re looking for rough-sawn lumber or live edge slabs, we carry top-quality hardwoods in a range of sizes and finishes to meet your needs. Each piece is carefully sourced for character, grain consistency, and long-lasting performance, ideal for both DIYers and professional craftsmen. As a proudly Canadian company with locally owned stores, Windsor Plywood specializes in hard-to-find wood products and offers expert, one-on-one service to help you bring your vision to life. Visit your local store to browse our full hardwood selection and get the guidance you need for your next project.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is jatoba and what are its main characteristics?
Jatoba (Hymenaea courbaril), also called Brazilian cherry, is a South American hardwood with a Janka hardness of approximately 2350 — nearly twice as hard as red oak. It has a medium to coarse texture, an interlocked grain, and a salmon-red to orange-brown colour that deepens to a richer reddish-brown with light exposure. Jatoba is used for flooring, furniture, cabinetry, and turning.
Is jatoba actually a type of cherry?
No. Jatoba is called Brazilian cherry for marketing purposes, but it is botanically unrelated to American or European cherry. Jatoba's appearance, hardness, and working properties are significantly different from true cherry. Jatoba is much harder than cherry, has a more orange-red initial colour, and lacks cherry's fine, consistent grain. The name Brazilian cherry is a trade name rather than a botanical description.
Why is jatoba used for hardwood flooring?
Jatoba's extreme hardness makes it an excellent flooring material in high-traffic residential and commercial applications where dent resistance is important. Its attractive warm colour and the way it deepens with light exposure are design assets. Jatoba flooring is durable enough for commercial applications where domestic hardwoods would show unacceptable wear in a shorter time frame.
Is jatoba difficult to work with?
Yes. Jatoba's hardness and interlocked grain make it more challenging to machine than domestic hardwoods. It dulls tools quickly and can be prone to tearout in hand plane operations. Blunted tools produce burning and poor surface quality. Carbide-tipped saw blades, router bits, and drill bits are essential. Pre-drilling is required for all fasteners to prevent splitting.
Does Windsor Plywood carry jatoba?
Windsor Plywood carries jatoba as a specialty exotic hardwood for flooring, furniture, and woodworking applications subject to current availability. Contact your local Windsor Plywood branch to confirm current stock and dimensions available for your project.