Commonly used hemlock species for use as lumber are West Coast hemlock, Pacific hemlock, British Columbia hemlock, hemlock spruce, and western hemlock fir. Hemlock has a great reputation for excellence in form and function for doors, windows, mouldings, cabinets, saunas and spas. The kiln or air dried wood is very stable and does not twist or warp under heat making it a favorite in the sauna industry. With both machine or hand tools, clean straight edges and accurate contours are easy to achieve. The combination of stability, and smooth finishes make Hemlock a favorite wood for the construction of saunas.
Hemlocks have great overall uniformity of coloring from heartwood to sapwood, from a light honey to a slightly richer golden tan. It has fine pores which gives it excellent glueing properties so it is ideally suited for edge veneering and laminating. Hemlock complements virtually any architectural style or design scheme whether used extensively or in small decorative elements. Western hemlock is fairly light in weight and has good strength to weight ratio. It is shock resistant and has a moderate hardness and stiffness when compaired to other lumbers. The wood has only an intermediate nail holding ability and has the tendency to split when large nails or too many nails are used. It is works great with glues and taking in stains, varnish, paint and polishes. Appearance is very similar to amabilis fir with the main difference being that the fir is absent of any aromas making it an inferior choice for a sauna but still a great choice for architectural milling, trims, doors etc.
