It steals heat faster
Why Does Metal Feel Colder Than Wood?
Metal and wood in the same room are the same temperature. Metal just takes your heat quicker.
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Step 1 of 5
Both are the same temperature.
A metal spoon and a wooden one left in the same room are at exactly the same temperature. A thermometer confirms it.
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Step 2 of 5
You cannot sense temperature directly.
You have no sense that measures temperature. Only one that measures flow. Your skin detects heat flowing in or out of it. Fast heat loss feels cold — that is the actual sensation.
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Step 3 of 5
Metal moves heat extremely well.
Free electrons carry energy through metal rapidly, so heat flows away from your hand as fast as your skin can supply it.
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Step 4 of 5
Wood blocks it.
Wood is fibres and trapped air, so heat crawls through it. The surface touching you warms up almost immediately and heat loss stops.
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Step 5 of 5
Above body temperature it reverses.
In a hot car, metal feels far hotter than the fabric seat next to it — the same fast conduction, running the other way.
This is why a 100°C oven is bearable to reach into but 100°C water is not — air conducts heat terribly.
The short version
Metal feels colder because it conducts heat away from your skin far faster than wood, at the same temperature.
Try it yourself
Touch a metal table leg and a wooden one, then measure both with a thermometer. Identical.