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What is your favorite wood?

J

jcooper

Joined
Feb 20, 2006
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Location
Westhampton, MA
what is your favorite wood? not only to turn but in general? Mine would have to be good old cherry,although walnut and figured maples tie in a close second (guess it's cuz they just look so damn good together).
 
Tough Question...

I guess I would have to say it's any one spinning on my lathe.

My second favorites would be maple or cherry burl.
 
into the woods

Cercocarpus sp, a.k.a. Mountain Mahogany, ironwood, sinker wood (won't float in water), etc.
 
I guess I would have to say that free wood is my favorite wood. But if you really want to nail it down, I would have to say maple burl. I happen to get a fair amount of it, at least lately, and it is a real joy to turn. But like yourself, my three main generic favorites are maple, cherry, and walnut, all of which come around here in good supply.

Bill
 
Walnut and ipe for me.... they turn and finish so nicely and they really look awsome. Yew and cocobolo are also cool in terms of looks!! But I haven't turned to many different kinds: mostly domestic hardwoods and some exotics!

Jonathon
 
Holly I love Holly. I don't get much of it but Dry or wet it's great wood to turn. When kiln dried it is so white so it makes an excellent wood for segmented projects where a light contrast is needed. Green holly just turns so sweet and sands and polishes to a very clean look. It does warp so you have to plan for that.
 
Not a big secret about mine - Cedar Elm. Not to be confused with Aromatic Cedar, Western (soft) Cedar, or American Elm. Cedar Elm is a native to Texas. It has lots of character but is also quite dense. It sands to a mirror polish and takes finish well. Plus it is relatively plentiful. This is one wood that I do not pass up when I see it getting cut.
 
i'll have to admit that i'm a bit of an enviromental conservationist, and i seldom use exotics for that reason. It's okay though, because american woods are a little easier to come by and cheaper. I'm also biologiststudying to be an enviromental police officer so i cant be a hypocrit by arguing the deforestation in the tropics while selling turning a bunch of mohagany bowls. i love just finding and cutting burls (a process that actually HELPS the trees rather than kinng them). and did i mention my girlfriend wont let me use them either? haha
 
wood

Mine has to be Yew. I'm fortunate enough to be offered substantial amounts from time to time, and always buy the whole load where ever possible. I bought some last year that had been felled and stored in a barn in 1967! They forgot about it! When re-discovered the sap wood was - surprise surprise - a little wormy. Even more surprising was that the damage was slight and the timber a beautiful rich colour...or should I say, "colours". (English spelling...sorry folks!)...and although it can be troublesome to turn...deep heart shakes and just about every other kind of shake, it's worth the effort.
 

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My favorite wood is one that has unique character, features, and figure regardless of species.

For pleasure of turning I rank dogwood, holly, and citrus at the top of the list.
These woods are so much fun to turn it is hard to make a lage piece I just want to keep peeling the wood away. Madron would make the list but it is so sticky that the peeling pleasure gets interupted.

For all around balance of sensations smell and turning fun cherry and white oak top my list.

Maple tops the list for highest surprize quotient in that it is so varied in grain and features.

Happy turning,
Al
 
Love 'em all...

For general woodworking, maple, cherry and walnut. For turning, spalted apple. I've got a neighbor who took down a pretty good sized apple a number of years ago, and just tossed the logs in a pile. I've been picking them up and turning them into everything I can think of. Turns so sweet, and the color and figure is gorgeous! Of course it falls into the best category of all... Free!

Ziffy
 
I'm nuts about the color and contrast of Cocobolo. I have a stash of it in almost every size. The depth of color is amazing and the accent of sapwood is unbelievable.
 
I ain't turned nothin' yet . . . . . .

I have had a hard time finding any good wood lately and haven't done much turning, so --


[font=&quot]Any wood is good wood
So I turn what I can get, yes, I turn what I can get
And then, and then, and then SWMBO looked at me with big brown eyes
And said

You ain't turned nothin' yet
Baby, you just ain't turned nothin' yet
Turn something, turn something,
turn something, mama, you're never gonna forget
B-B-B-Baby, you just ain't turned nu-nu-nu-nothin' yet
You ain't been turnin’ round

You ain't turned nothin' yet
I know I ain't turned nothin' yet
I know I ain't turned nothin' yet
Baby, Baby, Baby
You ain't turned nothin' yet

Bill
[/font]
 
I like a wood called Camateo the best. I've had some that ranged between almost a black-purple to some that looked like raspberry swirl ice cream. It's also called Mexican Kingwood.

For faceplate work, I guess that any kind of burl wood is the favorite with cherry ranking right up there.

Joe
 
jcooper said:
what is your favorite wood? not only to turn but in general? Mine would have to be good old cherry,although walnut and figured maples tie in a close second (guess it's cuz they just look so damn good together).
Click to expand...

Next; A dab of Butternut and a sled of ash and that is better than the Mona
Lisa I think ,but i just make alot of wood dust,shavings!
 
best wood

I'm going to have to second Bud's statement and go with mountain mahogany. Every piece holds a new surprise, and it turns like some of the denser tropical hardwoods. Just wish I could find a piece about 16" in diameter... .

Don
 
Australian birch

I have to go with the australian birch. I was given some flooring to make pens for someone and it turns easily, sands like a dream, and smells really great. Sure would like to get a large piece to make bowls.

Vernon
 
jcooper said:
what is your favorite wood? not only to turn but in general? Mine would have to be good old cherry,although walnut and figured maples tie in a close second (guess it's cuz they just look so damn good together).
Click to expand...

The NEXT piece I put on the lathe :cool2:
 
My favorite is free wood
I live close to a dam that recently went under repair.The water was lowered to the original river bed drying out logs that had been sitting on the bottom for 1 to 100+ years. They finished repairs and reflooded the reservoir. All of the old wood floated up and ran into the dam. They heaped it into huge piles. Free for the taking!
Every tme I turn a piece whether hard wood or pine. I can't help but think of when the tree grew and what tales it could tell.. As a bonus, a lot of the sinkers turn like green wood and don't distort while drying.
My other sourse (and I know I shouldn't be telling you ) is the local land fill-you know where people recycle yard wastes. .... some of my most favorite figured pieces came from there.( now don't tell anyone)
 
Most of my flat work around here is oak, love the look of it. Our house has so much oak between the floors, cabinets, wainscotting, furniture, etc. that it looks like we personally de-forested a small national park. Not really fond of turning it, although I have done a lot of it. For turning I used to try a lot of exotics until I had some severe skin reactions, now I stick mostly to various maples, some cherry, and walnut. Walnut can be the most beautiful or the most boring, varies a lot from piece to piece.

Used to love the way cocobola turns, but now I can break out in a rash just looking at it. Traded off all I had for some Ambrosia Maple, and I love it.
 
My favorite hand down is Texas Mountain Laurel. It is extremely rare in larger sizes and is some of the most beautiful wood I have seen. It is very hard but turns like plastic. It is also something that most people have never seen since it is not commercially available.

My next favorite is Mesquite, Spalted Pecan, and Texas Ebony, in that order.
 
Make mine Cherry. Also like Maple and Walnut but like Woodwish says, walnut can run from beautiful to boring. Sure would like to try some of those southern and western types though.
 
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