Wood: The star of the show.
Wood is more than a building material. It’s a physical representation of the natural world around us. That’s why I believe in using interesting woods in my work. In the following lists you can learn some interesting facts and about the types of wood I use.
The interesting woods.
Here is a compilation of the more rare woods I use in my work. You’ll find a general sense of what these woods look like and get to learn some facts about these woods.
Purple Heart: A fascinating wood. The most obvious reason why is the fact that it is naturally purple. This wood also is incredibly dense and oily wood, which makes it incredibly strong and has been used by local populations for uses for bridges, large structures, and boats. Purple heart has also been used by some indigenous peoples for its supposed spiritual qualities of defusing negativity from households, aid in healing processes, and can help with creativity and knowledge.
Chakte Viga: A stunning orange wood. Not very commonly used for some strange reason. When finished it has a luster that is unrivaled.
Blackwood: While there can be some streaks of blonde sapwood, the heartwood is always jet black. A faint yet alluring wood grain can be seen, if you look at it in the right way. This wood is so hard and dense it seems like a black piece of metal.
Bocote: This wood has very distinct grain pattern with vibrant yellow and zebra-like black stripes that can be memorizing. It is common to have a complex and wavy grain pattern with incredibly fine details. Because of its waviness, “eyes” may also appear in the grain.
Katalox: AKA Royal Mexican Ebony. This wood has a unique dark purple/black grain with a very vibrant yellow sapwood that creates a beautiful mixture of colours. While technically it is not a true ebony species, its exceptional strength properties and dark grain pattern has made this wood an increasingly popular substitute for ebony.
Tulipwood: An incredibly beautiful wood grain with a vibrant mixture of yellow, pink, red purple, and rose. It has a historical significance in changing the European styles of furniture and cabinetry from straight grain symmetry to bright and distinct colours with interesting wood grains.
Box Elder: Known by its numerous aliases such as Manitoba maple, ash maple, ash leaved maple, or elf maple. While it has many names, the constant is the magnificent pink and red streaks are found in the grain pattern. This colour comes from the tree’s natural defence from bacterial or fungal infections, which results in the extraordinary patterns and colours of the wood.
Sumac: That’s right, the pretty bush sumac. Turns out it has beautiful green wood with undertones of yellow and orange. Sumacs don't yield much wood because of the size.However the smaller pieces allow for tighter growth rings which can create fascinating patterns.
Caribbean Rosewood: The grain of caribbean rosewood has a wild mix of orange, gold, brown, green, and dark brown/black streaks. This wood also goes by the name black poisonwood. It gets this name because of its black sap that causes a reaction to the skin similar to poison ivy. Both plants are part of the anacardiaceæ family so they produce urushiol that almost all humans are allergic to. Don't worry, it is safe to wear/use because when the wood dries it doesn't retain the allergenic properties
Cocobolo: A valued wood. Sometimes the colours are so vibrant it's almost psychedelic. These somewhat quickly can turn to a rich dark brown. I save it for special occasions as I only use pieces harvested before restrictions, as there should be.
Lilac: We all know lilac for its beautiful flowers and lovely scent, but it is rarely used for its beautiful and dense wood. It has an elegant brown and purple grain.
Butternut: A close relative to black walnut one and in my top 5 favourite woods. With beautiful figure and a fantastic pink-hued beige colour its easy to see why. Unfortunately butternuts are nearly extinct from a fungal pandemic. This leaves the dead trees a limited resource so the only lumber available is knotty and worm.
Quina: A subtle yet stable burgundy coloured wood. I hope the finished product keeps its smell with time. It has a lovely spicey smell and its primary use is in perfume.
Zebrawood: It is a scientific fact that zebras are black with white stripes. Zebrawood on the other hand is a light brown with black stripes. This tree also comes from the pea family, which allows it to have a special symbiotic relationship with soil bacteria (Rhizobia) where the bacteria lives in the tree’s nodes and essentially feeds it nitrogen.
Leopardwood: I’ve emphasized how fascinating wood can be, and leopardwood is far from an exception. This wood has a dark brown-pink hue with overlaying spots along the grain that resembles, well, a leopard. These spots are only seen from quatersawn pieces. This is because the when it is cut perpendicular to the annual rings it exposes the rays (what transports nutrients throughout the tree) which in this tree are large enough to create these large spots.
Padauk: Used for thousands of years for fine handmade pieces like instruments, high end joinery, and many specialty items. This is because of the natural reddish-orange colour of padauk. This colour comes from the chemical compounds that padauk extracts from the soil. We enjoy theses compounds as the beautiful grain the padauk is famous for. For the tree however, these compounds offer incredibly strong protection against bacteria and fungi that decay the heartwood of the tree. The bark and leaves from padauk has also been used medicinally by indigenous tribes and the red heartwood used for religious ceremonies.
Black Palm: A bizarre looking wood. This is because palm trees are a monocot as opposed the a dicot like most trees. These sciencey terms describe the vascular structure. Most trees arrange them in rings (think rings on a log) whereas palm trees are random.
Olive: Olive trees are strongly intertwined with our history. They have been an extremely important part of early agriculture because it is thought to be one of the first plants to be cultivated by humans. It has become the basis of most Mediterranean foods, and to this day it remains an incredibly valued resource in these areas. Because of the extremely high demand, this leaves the wood only being harvested from dead or diseased parts of the trees.
Osage Orange: It's about as close to a golden wood possible. One of my top favourites for its mesmerizing colour and figuring.
The common woods.
Here is some information on wood you come in contact with every day.
Cedar: Infamous for its lovely smell and beautiful knotty grain. Not commonly used for furniture because of the small size of the tree thus yielding smaller lumber.
Maple: A hard domestic wood. A great choice for furniture that requires a neutral wood. Maple also more commonly exhibits figuring in lumber.
Cherry: A personal favourite. A beautifully coloured wood that with an attractive grain.
Pine: A common wood. While not usually known as a exceptional wood and I generally agree... however it's so knotty you can usually find some interesting grain patterns.