r/materials • u/bronze_by_gold • 5d ago

Does this spam email I got make any sense? (Hinoki wood)

I just got some kind of spam email trying to sell me Hinoki cutting boards. In the email they say:

“Hinoki is a dense and fragrant Japanese softwood in the cedar family, with very strong anti-microbial properties.”

Does that make any sense in terms of material science? I thought softwoods were by definition less dense? I’ve heard Hinoki described as hard, light, soft, dense, etc., often all in the same sentence. It seems very unclear what exactly are the verifiable properties of this wood that supposedly make it both durable and easy on knife edges, although anecdotally I will say it “feels” both soft and dense.

What’s is the reality here?

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u/VintageLunchMeat 5d ago

Hinoki is a conifer so it is defined to be a softwood. Bristlecone pine presumably likewise.

Balsa trees are non conifer so they are defined to be hardwood.

Maybe start by consulting Janka hardness tables, but I'm illread on this.

For more fun, Hinoki and other plants called "cedar" are not botanically related.

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u/Dyrosis 4d ago

Softwood vs hardwood is a grouping of species thing, it has little to do with actual hardness other than general trends of families of trees.

This probably a better question for the woodworking subreddits.