I'm building my wife a craft table from soft maple, and finally am getting to working on the joinery (mostly M&T joints).
While cracking my mortise chisel with Thor's Thunder Mallet, the beech has split from end to end on a slight diagonal. No big deal, as I can make my own handles.
Just taking a poll here, but I'm curious what types of wood y'all would use for this task. Vote away!