Let me start by saying I build an occasional piece of furniture/cabinetry for folks. I pretty much just build stuff for the enjoyment and the satisfaction of outfitting my shop. When folks come to me seeking something built I work with them to come up with a design that compliments the intended surroundings. Naturally, we discuss what type of wood they'd like. Most people have no idea what types of wood are available.

For example, I have a customer that wants a set of oak cabinets for his home theater. I think he wants oak because he does not know what else is available. I'd like for him to consider Quarter Sawn White Oak (QSWO) to compliment (and add some contrast) existing flooring and built-ins. So, I 'harvested' a few QSWO pixs from the Creek this afternoon to share with this client. That got me to thinking of the following concept/idea. Tell me what you think of this . . .

I'd like to propose that, as a community, we attempt to assemble an on-line resource of the various types of wood that we use. I think most folks would benefit from two pictures of each species – one it's natural state, and one picture of the wood in it's finished state (wouldn't need to be the 'same' piece of wood, just a representative sample). So you take a picture of a piece of scrap and then a relative close-up of the wood on a finished project. Each finished wood can accompany a description of the finishing process used. Yes, we would potentially have multiple listings for each type of wood depending on the finish. Depending on input from the members here, maybe this 'resource' should include a picture of a finished piece (i.e.: furniture, cabinetry, box etc...)

This resource can be used by all of the folks that hangout here on the Creek (or just stopping by for a brief visit) to select what type of wood they might like to use on their next project.

I don't mind pulling the information together and posting to the article forum for the rest of time.

There will be a fair amount of work involved in putting this together, So before we get off to a false start I'd like to be sure there is enough interest. I'd say if we can get commitment to include 20 different wood/finish combinations, we could have a decent 'article' on wood and wood finish. Do you guys feel that something like this could be a useful resource?

I'll commit to 3 - natural cherry, 'red' cherry and natural maple. If we can get commitments for 17 more (post your wood selections here), please begin to post them in this thread. As promised, I'll assemble and send to Keith for posting in the article forum.

If you've read this far, you must have some interest in this subject. Consider committing to a few of your favorite species!! Thanks. Lars