Hardwood in Stardew Valley is one of the primary building materials used in bundles and different recipes. Hardwood is used to build and improve buildings in the carpentry workshop, as well as in the making of objects in inventory. With the profession Lumberjack, obtained at level 10, this material can drop from any tree.
How to get hardwood in Stardew Valley?
Hardwood can be obtained by cutting down a large stump with a copper axe or a large log with a steel axe or higher. With the latest updates, the developer added the ability to grow Mahogany Tree, which can be cut down with all axes.
The Mahogany Tree can be grown from the Mahogany Seed. This kind of tree gives sap and ten hardwood when cut. Alternatively, hardwood can be obtained by breaking crates and barrels in the mine.
Another way to obtain this resource is to build a Woodskip Fish Pond, which may produce five hardwoods when the pond’s population reaches 6. If you want to use this method, you will have to buy the pond from the Robin’s Carpenter’s Shop; it will cost 5,000g, 200 Stone, 5 Seaweed, and 5 Green Algae. After that, you will have to catch a Woodskip in the Secret Woods pond in any season when it’s not raining. If you’ve chosen a Forest Farm during the character creation, you can catch this fish at your farm lake.
Where to get hardwood in Stardew Valley
One of the easiest ways to get this resource is to cut down six large stumps in the Secret Woods. They reappear every day, allowing you to get 12 units of hardwood daily. If you choose Forest Farm, eight more large stumps are available to you on the left side of Forest Farm, yielding a total of 16 more hardwood units. If you’re looking where to get hardwood in Stardew Valley, this might be one of the easiest spots to find.
Another way to get hardwood is to explore the mine: you can get this resource by smashing objects in the environment.
Stardew Valley Hardwood Locations
You should start collecting resources by clearing fallen tree trunks on your farm — it’s one of the best hardwood locations. At the beginning of the game, your property is overgrown with trees and grass, which will help you gather lots of rocks, wood, and fiber. To start obtaining hardwood, you’ll need a copper axe, which you can get from Clint; without it, you won’t be able to break up large logs.
To collect all the fallen logs, you’ll need a steel axe; once you get the steel axe, head to the forest’s upper left corner, where there is a fallen log north of the wizard’s tower. Once you break it, you’ll unlock access to a new location where you can get plenty of hardwood daily. This location also contains a lake where you can catch specific types of fish, such as Woodskip, which you can use to create a fish pond from which you can get extra hardwood.
Stardew Valley Hardwood Farming
There are several ways to obtain plenty of hardwood, but most of them are random — for example, the Woodskip pond. The most stable and easy way to get this resource is to start hardwood farming in the Secret Woods. If you haven’t picked the forest farm during the character creation, you will have no additional wood sources.
In Stardew Valley, hardwood is used for building mostly. The first major purchasement is a second home expansion, which requires 150 resources. It adds two new rooms: an empty room and a nursery with a crib and two single beds, which will allow you to have children. After this upgrade, the kitchen and bedroom are also enlarged. Second, you’ll probably need 100 hardwood to build a stall that allows you to have a riding horse. Different recipes also require this resource; for example, a cheese press requires ten pieces of hardwood. All in all, you will need about 250 hardwood for essential purchases.
Before you start farming hardwood, improve your axe; otherwise, you won’t be able to collect this resource. It will take two steps: Copper Axe with 5 Copper bars and 2,000 gold, and then Steel Axe with 5 Iron bars and 5,000 gold.
The most stable and easiest way to get hardwood in Stardew Valley is by cutting logs in The Secret Woods. You have six fallen logs available per day, which are regenerated after cutting them every morning, allowing you to get 12 hardwoods. Once you gain access to Secret Woods, it will take you 21 days to accumulate 250 hardwood — and that’s if you use only one method of obtaining the resource. You’ll probably manage to gather it much faster: while you’re collecting resources for the axe, you’ll have to clear out mines where you can find extra hardwood.
Uses of Hardwood in Stardew Valley
In addition to the building, there are plenty of ways to use hardwood in Stardew Valley. First of all, you will need this resource to craft different items: it’s used for all totems, fences, fishing instruments, and artisan equipment. You will need 10 hardwood for the Cheese Press, 20 for Oil Maker, and 1 for each cask. Other hardwood recipes require 30-50 pieces of the resource.
Sometimes it will be necessary to use hardwood in quests: most often, you will have to gather this resource for Robin. She will ask you to bring 10 Hardwood by mail on the 21st of Winter in the “Robin’s Request” Quest and 80 Hardwood in the “Robin’s Project” Special Order. In 1.5 update, the developer also added the “Willy’s Boat” quest: you will be able to repair the boat for 200 hardwood, which will open an opportunity to access the Ginger Island.
If you own a fish pond, this resource may be required for different kinds of fish. Woodskip requires 10 Hardwood to increase the pond’s capacity from 1 to 3; Crayfish, Periwinkle, and Snail may also require you to bring 5 Hardwood to improve the pond’s capacity from 5 to 7.
Don’t try to use Hardwood as a gift: only Robin would like that. All other villagers will dislike it if you give them this resource.
How to turn hardwood into wood in Stardew Valley
If you have plenty of resources, you may be interested in how to turn hardwood into the wood. On the second day of Winter, you will receive a letter from Robin, which will open access to the Wood Chipper. This machine can be purchased from the Carpenter’s Shop for 1,000g. When you use it, you will get 5-10 wood with 96% chance, 15-20 wood with 2% chance, maple syrup, oak resin, and pine tar with 0.66% chance. It takes 3 hrs to proceed the resources.