The following is a list of exotic woods used to make our bandsaw boxes and other sculptured items we offer.

Ash – White

Color/Appearance: The heartwood is a light to medium brown color. Sapwood can be very wide, and tends to be a beige or light brown; not always clearly or sharply demarcated from heartwood.

Grain/Texture: Has a medium to coarse texture similar to oak. The grain is almost always straight and regular, though sometimes moderately curly or figured boards can be found.

Comments: The emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis), believed to have been inadvertently introduced from Asia sometime in the 1990s, was first detected in Michigan in 2002.  White Ash has excellent shock resistance, it is one of the most commonly used hardwoods for tool handles in North America—particularly in shovels and hammers where toughness and impact resistance is important. When stained, ash can look very similar to oak although oaks have much wider rays, which are visible on all wood surfaces. Ashes lack these conspicuous rays.

Bloodwood

Color/Appearance:Heartwood is a bright, vivid red. Color can darken to a darker brownish red over time with exposure to light. Applying a thick protective finish, and keeping the wood out of direct sunlight can help slow this color shift. Well defined sapwood is a pale yellowish color, though given the typically large trunk diameters, it’s seldom seen or included in imported lumber.

Grain/Texture: Grain is usually straight or slightly interlocked. Has a fine texture with good natural luster, and is also somewhat chatoyant.

Comments: Traditionally known by the name Satine, it’s no wonder that the wood (now more commonly called Bloodwood) has grown so popular as an imported wood species. Though it poses some challenges in working characteristics, its hardness, strength, and coloration make this a crimson favorite.

Cedar – Aromatic

Color/Appearance: The Heartwood tends to be a reddish or violet-brown. Sapwood is a pale yellow color, and can appear throughout the heartwood as streaks and stripes.

Grain/Texture: Has a straight grain, usually with knots present. Has a very fine even texture.

Comments: Although Aromatic Red Cedar is included in the cypress family (Cupressaceae) which includes many species of cedar, it’s perhaps more closely related in junipers. In tree form, it is more commonly called Eastern Redcedar, while the wood itself is usually referred to as Aromatic Red Cedar.

Cedar – Spanish

Color/Appearance: Heartwood is a relatively uniform light pinkish to reddish brown; colors tend to darken with age. Random pockets of gum and natural oils are commonly present. Grain patterning and figure tends to be somewhat bland.

Grain/Texture: Grain is straight or shallowly interlocked. Medium texture and moderate natural luster.

Comments: A historically valuable Latin-American timber, Spanish Cedar has been exploited in many regions, and the species is now considered to be vulnerable. Density and mechanical properties can vary widely depending on country of origin and growing conditions. Some of the wood available at present comes from plantations: where younger, faster-growing trees, produce wood that is lower in density, and paler in color than wood cut from trees taken from forests in the wild.

Cedar – Western

Color/Appearance: Heartwood reddish to pinkish brown, often with random streaks and bands of darker red/brown areas. Narrow sapwood is pale yellowish white, and isn’t always sharply demarcated from the heartwood.

Grain/Texture: Has a straight grain and a medium to coarse texture.

Comments: Western Redcedar is a commercially important lumber, used in a number of applications ranging from rough-sawn lumber for use in home construction to clear quartersawn material for classical guitar soundboards.

Cherry – American

Color/Appearance: Heartwood is a light pinkish brown when freshly cut, darkening to a medium reddish brown with time and upon exposure to light. Sapwood is a pale yellowish color.

Grain/Texture: The grain is usually straight and easy to work—with the exception of figured pieces with curly grain patterns. Has a fine, even texture with moderate natural luster.

Comments: Black Cherry develops a rich reddish-brown patina as it ages. This aging process can be accelerated by exposing the wood (in a judicious manner) to direct sunlight.

Maple

Color/Appearance: Unlike most other hardwoods, the sapwood of Hard Maple lumber is most commonly used rather than its heartwood. Sapwood color ranges from nearly white, to an off-white cream color, sometimes with a reddish or golden hue. The heartwood tends to be a darker reddish brown. Birdseye Maple is a figure found most commonly in Hard Maple, though it’s also found less frequently in other species. Hard Maple can also be seen with curly or quilted grain patterns.

Grain/Texture: Grain is generally straight, but may be wavy. Has a fine, even texture.

Comments: In tree form, Hard Maple is usually referred to as Sugar Maple, and is the tree most often tapped for maple syrup. Hard Maple ought to be considered the king of the Acer genus. Its wood is stronger, stiffer, harder, and denser than all of the other species of Maple commercially available in lumber form.

Oak – English

Color/Appearance: Heartwood is a light to medium brown, commonly with an olive cast, though there can be a fair amount of variation in color. Nearly white to light brown sapwood is not always sharply demarcated from the heartwood. Quartersawn sections display prominent ray fleck patterns. 

Grain/Texture: Grain is straight, with a coarse, uneven texture. May have irregular or interlocked grain depending on growing conditions of the tree. 

Comments: English Oak falls into the white oak group, and shares many of the same traits as White Oak (Quercus alba). One of the most famous English Oak trees, The Major Oak, is a massive tree located in Sherwood Forest, in Nottinghamshire, England. The tree is estimated to be approximately 1,000 years old, and is purported to have been a common hideout for Robin Hood and his outlaws.

Oak – Live

Color/Appearance: Has a light to medium brown color, though there can be a fair amount of variation in color. Conversely, Red Oak tends to be slightly redder, but is by no means a reliable method of determining the type of Oak.

Grain/Texture: Grain is straight, with a coarse, uneven texture. May have irregular grain depending on growing conditions of the tree.

Comments: Live Oak shares many of the same traits as White Oak (Quercus alba), though it is diffuse porous and readily separable from white oaks on the basis of anatomy.

Oak – White

Color/Appearance: Has a light to medium brown color, though there can be a fair amount of variation in color. Conversely, Red Oak tends to be slightly redder, but is by no means a reliable method of determining the type of oak.

Grain/Texture: Has medium-to-large pores and a fairly coarse grain.

Comments: White Oak, along with its brother Red Oak, are commonly used domestic lumber species. Hard, durable, and moderately priced, White Oak presents an exceptional value to woodworkers—which explains why it is so widely used in cabinet and furniture making.

Padauk

Color/Appearance: Heartwood color can vary, ranging from a pale pinkish orange to a deep brownish red. Most pieces tend to start reddish orange when freshly cut, darkening substantially over time to a reddish/purplish brown. Padauk’s initial orange coloration can be preserved through various finishing procedures.

Grain/Texture: Grain is usually interlocked, with a coarse texture and fairly large and open pores.

Comments: Historically, this species was one of the primary contributors of the reddish orange wood called “Vermillion”—much more commonly referred to as “Padauk” today. Currently African Padauk provides nearly all of the world’s supply of Padauk.

Purpleheart

Color/Appearance: When freshly cut the heartwood of Purpleheart is a  dull grayish/purplish brown. Upon exposure the wood becomes a deeper eggplant purple. With further age and exposure to UV light, the wood becomes a dark brown with a hint of purple. This color-shift can be slowed and minimized by using a UV inhibiting finish on the wood.

Grain/Texture: The grain is usually straight, but can also be wavy or irregular. Has a medium texture with good natural luster.

Comments: Sometimes called Amaranth, this colorful Latin American hardwood is tremendously popular for furniture and other designs that call for a unique splash of color. In addition to its coloration, Purpleheart has excellent strength properties, and can be used in applications where strength is important—a wood for both form and function.

Sapele

Color/Appearance: Heartwood is a golden to dark reddish brown. Color tends to darken with age. Besides the common ribbon pattern seen on quartersawn boards, Sapele is also known for a wide variety of  other figured grain patterns, such as: pommele, quilted, mottled, wavy, beeswing, and fiddleback.

Grain/Texture: Grain is interlocked, and sometimes wavy. Fine uniform texture and good natural luster.

Comments: Sapele is a commonly exported and economically important African wood species. It is occasionally used as a substitute for Genuine Mahogany, and is sometimes referred to as “Sapele Mahogany.” Sapele is in the Entandrophragma genus so comparisons to true mahogany may not be too far fetched. Usually pronounced (sah-PELL-ey) or (sah-PEEL-ey).

Zebrawood

Color/Appearance: Heartwood is a light brown or cream color with dark blackish brown streaks vaguely resembling a zebra’s stripes. Depending on whether the wood is flatsawn or quartersawn, the stripes can be either chaotic and wavy (flatsawn), or somewhat uniform (quartersawn).

Grain/Texture: Has a fairly coarse texture and open pores. Grain is usually wavy or interlocked.

Comments: Sometimes called Zebrano, the wood is strong and stiff, with a fairly high density. However, the wood is much more frequently used for its bold and unique striping.