Favorite Type of Wood?

Hi Travis,

I think one of my favorite all-round wood is Imbuia. A bit denser than Walnut with the same working properties, but in part it is the smell. The shop smells like a spice shop for a day or two after working with it.

Another is like Alex mentions, Bubinga. Nearly any of the Rosewoods actually.

Ah, so much wood, so little time...

Take care, Mike
Funny you should bring up Imbuia, Mike. I was reading Alex's comments on how Bubinga smells, and I thought to myself "Self, Imbuia's gotta be the best smelling stuff I've ever worked." Then I clicked on the next page, and you're echoing my thoughts.

Great (or sick) minds must think alike. ;)
 
And Imbuia, which since its discovery 2-3 hundred years ago, has been taken to Europe as a Walnut substitute--seems by then they had cut a lot of theirs down...

Here's a handle in lightly figured Imbuia:

dt_0002a.jpg


Take care, Mike
 
Walnut is my favorite, though I don't get to work with it often. Most of my jobs are Red Oak, which I get tired of over and over again.
Walnut machines and finishes nicely.
Cherry is my second, though it doesn't machine as good.
 
Cherry. No stains. I like its love affair with light when simply coated and how gracefully it ages. I never did go much for exotics and I don't look too hard for figure of any type, but cherry never seems to disappoint. Walnut and maple are close seconds -- but I have just discovered mesquite and pecan, and I like lyptus, too... I guess it is hard to pick a favorite, though I do have a favorite medium. does that count?
 
Very pretty handle, Mike. Have you ever considered selling them? :rofl: :rofl: Honestly, that's a gorgeous piece of work.

And Travis, I concur with Stu. Great thread. :thumb:
 
No problem Stu, I like to ask questions and get people thinking about woodworking and what they do in their shops. More importantly, I like to get people thinking what they like about woodworking.

I don't believe any of us get all the time in the shop we would like, so at least as we sit in front of our computers...at work, during lunch, or while feeding the baby in my case...at least we can think fondly about the hobby/ career we love so much.
 
I'm kinda like some of the others in that I like a lot of woods, including walnut, mahogany, padouk, ash, red & white oak, pecan, cherry and others, but my true favorite is Mesquite. I just love it's color and grain and it is sooooo stable and is pretty easy to work with. It can, however, be difficult to find larger pieces without voids when you want a flawless finish without filling any voids with epoxy.
 
I find that like that first girlfriend I will always be fond of Mahogany, to me it just says "class" in a piece of furniture. Free is still the best, but there is so much free hack berry around that I've turned it down lately (I've got about 5-6 20X5" bowl blanks in the wood pile). Maple, cherry, walnut and mesquite are always good, but like Mike said, there are too many woods and not enough time.
 
Cherry... wonderful to work with, and a delight to finish with either an oil or shellac finish. It gets better and better with age, contrasts wonderfully with maple. And the rayfleck on quartersawn cherry can be pretty amazing....
so yeah, my vote is cherry :)
 
Walnut is tops for me

Walnut is my favorite. Just think it looks "rich". Got a deal on some figured Koa (reject from a guitar shop) last year and it is absolutely beautiful. I've never worked with Mesquite before, except as smokin chips, but the projects some of you Texans post using mesquite look great. I really like the color and shade of brown in mesquite.

Oh...and free wood ranks right up there as well.
 
Gosh, hard to say - most of my big furniture projects thus far have been made of either maple, white oak, or ash. However, that's as much due to the relative high cost of other hardwoods out here on the west coast then actual preference.

Next on my list is a complete bedroom set for my youngest daughter. I'm considering using a cherry/maple combination but have yet been able to bring myself to spend the big $$$ its going to require. Who knows, maybe once I get some experience with some cherry, I'll be a convert?;)
 
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