Types of Wood
Name: Walnut (Juglans nigra)
Color: Light to dark brown or chocolate brown.The Tree: A moderate sized tree
reaching about 100 feet and producing a trunk up to 60" in diameter.
The Wood: Usually steamed to match sapwood and heartwood. Fine but open grain.
Moderately coarse texture. Excellent to work including turning and carving.
Typical Uses: Furniture, cabinets, gun stock, musical instruments.
Source Region: Mid and Eastern United States and Canada
Name: Maple, Tiger (Acer saccharum)
Color: Cream white to reddish brown.
The Tree: Produces sweet sap used to make maple syrup. Matures at heights of
90-120 feet with a trunk 24-36".
The Wood: Curls appearing across the board are the result of contortions in the
grain that reflect light differently and mimics tiger stripes.
Typical Uses: Furniture, cabinets, accessories
Source Region: Northeastern USA & Canada.
Name: Maple, Birds Eye (Acer saccharum)
Color: Cream white to reddish
brown.
The Tree: Produces sweet sap used to make maple syrup. Matures at heights of
90-120 feet with a trunk 24-36".
The Wood: Figured with many small swirls resulting in circular "eyes" separate
from each other.
Typical Uses: Furniture and accessories.
Source Region: Northeastern USA & Canada.
Name: Purple Heart (Peltogyne spp)
Color: Dull gray brown when freshly
cut but soon oxidizing to a violet purple.
The Tree: A tall tree 120 feet or more, producing a long, straight trunk about
36 inches in diameter.
The Wood: Grain usually straight often with a fine curly figure. Fine texture.
Moderately hard to work but takes a glossy, lustrous finish. Lacquer finish will
best preserve the color. Also called Amaranth or purpleheart.
Typical Uses: Industrial construction, flooring, tool handles, accessories,
furniture.
Source Region: Mexico to Tropical South America
Name:> Leopardwood (Roupala brasiliensis)
Color: Pale pinkish brown to
medium brown.
The Tree: Grows up to 150 feet with a trunk diameter of up to 4'.
The Wood: Flaky, speckled figure with dark flecks, varying from a small lacelike
pattern to a larger "splashy" figure. Texture fairly coarse. Moderately hard.
Works easy and takes a lustrous finish. Fairly scarce.
Typical Uses: Boxes, inlay, accessories, fine furniture.
Source Region: South America, Chile, Brazil
Name:> African Padauk (Pterocarpus soyauxii)
Color: Bright orange red,
often with dark stripes.
The Tree: A straight, well shaped tree. Reaches 100 feet with a buttressed trunk
which may be 48" at breast height.
The Wood: When freshly cut the wood is bright orange red, becomes reddish brown.
Moderately hard and heavy. Medium texture, but with large pores. Saws and planes
easily to a very smooth surface.
Typical Uses: Furniture, flooring, turning, accessories.
Source Region: West Africa - Cameroon. Gabon, Nigeria, Gold Coast.
Name: Zebrawood (Microberlinia brazzavillensis)
Color: Golden brown with pronounced dark brown streaks.
The Tree: A tall tree to 150 feet; bole straight and
cylindrical but relatively short, up to 50 feet; trunk
diameters 48-60" over low buttresses. The bark is up to 12"
thick.
The Wood: Medium to coarse texture; grain usually wavy or
interlocked and produces alternating hard and soft material
which creates working difficulties.
Typical Uses: Furniture, accessories, inlay.
Source Region: West Africa, especially Cameroon and Gabon
Name: Cherry (Prunus serotina)
Color: Reddish brown with a golden luster.
The Tree: Reaches heights of up to 100 feet, about 80 feet average, with a tall
trunk of about 24" in diameter.
The Wood: Extremely popular with cabinetmakers. Cherry is easy to work, fine
textured, strong and fairly durable. Highly rated in all working properties
including wood bending and turning. Becomes darker and richer with age.
Typical Uses: Furniture, cabinets, joinery.
Source Region: Eastern USA, Eastern Canada.
Name: Red Oak (Quercus rubra)
Color: Light brown with a reddish tinge.
The Tree: The most common hardwood in
North America. The tree matures at about 70 feet in height and a trunk of 36".
Typical Uses: Furniture, cabinets, floors, accessories.
Source Region: Eastern United States and Canada.
 Name: Bloodwood (Brosimum Paraense)
Color: Red
The Tree: A very heavy, close grained, and strong wood.
Typical Uses: The wood machines well, works quite well
for cabinetry, furniture, and boxes and is very durable.
Source Region: Native of Brazil and also known as satine.
 Name: Bubinga (Guibourtia Demeusei)
Color:
Medium-brown with lighter red to purple veining.
The Tree: This wood grows with straight or interlocked grain
and is a very heavy rose wood.
Source Region: Africa.
 Name: Cocobolo (Dalbergia Retusa)
Color: Rich red to variegated yellow, orange, with red and dark
violet to almost black streaks. The yellows and oranges mature to a mellow
orange-red upon exposure.
The Tree:
This is one of those woods that sometimes makes you say "Wow". It belongs to the Dalbergia family, which means Rosewood.
Typical Uses: It can be easily
nailed, but gluing is difficult due to resin contact certain steps must be taken
before finishing but is a marvel when finished. The grain of Coco is irregular
but has a fine texture, it is also a very heavy wood.
 Name: Yellowheart (Euxylophora paraensis)
Color: Bright yellow
Typical Uses:
Pau Amarello or Yellowheart, is a yellow exotic wood used predominately as a
craftwood: cabinets, furniture, flooring and decorative turnings,
particularly in inlays when a color contrast is desired.
Name: Chakte Kok (Red Heart)(Sickingia salvadorensis)
Color:
Color varies from bright red to pink or violet with dark streaks.
The Tree: Small to medium, reaching up to 65 feet in height
with a trunk diameter of 15-20
The Wood: The wood and bark will produce a red dye. This wood is so unique it is difficult to make a comparison.
The vivid red color will darken when oil or lacquer finish is applied. Oxidizes to a golden tan if left unfinished.
Typical Uses:
Turning, boxes, inlay, trim, and accessories.
Source Region: Central America, Eastern Coast of Mexico
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