Creative Woods for Woodworking

What you use for any given project depends on various factors: strength, hardness, grain characteristics, cost, stability, weight, color, durability and availability. Some choices are more exotic and can give very unique results.

Curupay: An Exotic Unlike Any other Wood

Curupay a wood that came from this operation in Paraguay, turned out to be a pleasant surprise and popular wood; due to both the appearance of the raw boards and the machining and finishing characteristics.

Working with Mesquite to Make a Picture Frame

Mesquite’s beauty comes from a different breed of criteria other than clear wood. Namely the worm holes, splits, checks, knots, and bark inclusions that characterize the tree and her timber. “High quality” has an entirely different definition when it comes to mesquite lumber.

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Rosewood From Around the Globe

Rosewood is the popular name for wood from a very special group of trees. All true rosewoods belong to the genus Dalbergia. This is a large genus of small to medium-size trees and shrubs with wide distribution through out the tropical regions of Central and South America, Africa, Madagascar and southern Asia. The Grape Popsicle of Woodworking: Purple Heart Wood

Believe it or not, Purple Heart may come from about 20 species within Peltogyne, which is found throughout Central and South America. The wood from each species is so similar in appearance to one another that the industry accepts them all to be allocated and distributed as one.

Alder: It’s Possible You’ve Overlooked This One

I’m going to surmise that you’ve never used alder for woodworking projects. Few woodworkers have. On a whole, they’re just too busy making beautiful things with walnut or cherry or oak to stop and consider this wood. Poor souls. It’s time to pause for a minute.

8 Reasons Why Bubinga Is Awesome

One such tree is the bubinga. You and I are woodworkers, so naturally we’re looking at some of these trees and wondering what they look like on the inside; wondering what fantastic things the wood can make. The bubinga tree can be up to 8 feet in diameter. Can you imagine that? 8 feet roundish and 100 feet long. A tree that big weighs not one, not two, not 10, but over 56 tons.

Indian Rosewood Might Inspire Your Next Project

I doubt you need any form of begging or persuading from me to understand that one moment spent looking at a perfect board of rosewood will put your personal woodworking goals into a tailspin. Rosewood isn’t just a wood for fancy furniture or high-end guitars. You’ll find beautiful handmade tool handles, block planes, dovetail boxes, pens, bowls, cutting boards, and more.