favorite wood?

[julie Graf]

what's your favorite all-around wood to work with?

i've been working with ash for the past few weeks and i really like it. before that, it had been a lot of walnut, cherry and hard maple. i think my favorite wood to work with is still walnut, but the ash has impressed me.

[Doug Shepard]

Originally Posted by julie Graf

what's your favorite all-around wood to work with?
...

Just on the basis of "to work with" I'd say mahogany. Easy to chisel, plane, etc. Not my favorite looking wood though.

[Billy Chambless]

That's like asking which child is my favorite!

[Craig D Peltier]

I like Beech for ease of finding nice boards and not much wild grain to contend with for tearout and cost.
I like Maple for the look of it.
For exotics I like Peruvian Walnut.

[Matt Campbell]

Put me down for Peruvian walnut.

[M. A. Espinoza]

What Doug said, mahogany. Its so easy! And it can be garish or subdued figure so it has some versatility.

But knowing it is endangered has it off my list of wood I will use. More and more I really am leaning towards only using certified wood and am thinking about only USA certified.

Some of those species out there are just stunning but I wonder where and how they are harvested. I guess if I want the flash of exotics I'll have to do my homework from now on.

On the other end...red oak. Its fugly and smells just as good as it looks.

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

If other was not there, I would have Had a hard choice between Cherry and Walnut. They both have wonderful characteristics. But you added "OTHER", so I will choose Cocobolo (Could change as I get more into the Peru, S.A. woods) It's hard; has beautiful grain and turns and finishes well.

Bruce

[Larry Fox]

In terms of beauty, richness of figure, richness of color and all the other visual qualities that I look for in wood I would have to say that bubinga (especially figured) is my favorite.

I love cherry, walnut, and figured maple (especially tiger) also but I am a little burnt out on cherry after recently finishing a kitchen - but I will come back to it.

[Lance Norris]

If I have to pick one for the poll, it has to be good ol' American Walnut. Ive been working with it since High School, works easy and is beautiful. But, I also like Maple, there are so many varieties. I also like Red Elm because of the cost here in Ohio.

[Greg Cole]

Which ever one I have alot of or which ever is cheap n purdy?
I like curly maple a big bunch.... cherry too.... walnut.... can't say as I have a real favorite as with so many other things, there are alot of well it depends.
After getting a steal on some mahogany, I'm liking it alot too.
Geeze, this is harder than picking my favorite beer.... guess I'll just have to keep trying every one I can. Wood species (and beer) that is...

Greg

[Jeff Bower]

I like oak because of its look, its availability, and I grew up with oak trees all around me.

[Jason Beam]

My favorite wood is whatever wood I got the best deal on.

A few years ago, i got over a ton (literally) of maple "rippings" - 12/4 rippings that all were 2" wide or more and 12 feet long. Literally about 300 sticks. I paid $100 for it. Piled about 40% onto my trailer and sold the remaining stack for $80. Later sold 20 sticks to a friend at a buck apiece. So i had about 100 sticks left over ... FREE. Maple was my favorite wood for a good while. Made my workbench out of it and turned a bunch tops to give to toys for tots.

I'm not sure what this year's wood will be, though. It may be cherry, i dunno, yet. Gotta see what the gods bestow upon me

[Mike Cutler]

From the list of domestics you have up there. I'd pick cherry. But, I don't work very much with domestics.

I'm of the "ends justifies the means" philosophy. It's the appearance at the end I'm looking for. Here are my favorites;

Jatoba.
Hard on machines, harder on handtools, and harder on your back when working with big long thick planks. But the finish..... Is it possible to not have Jatoba look fabulous with almost no effort?

Wenge.
Splinters in the hands, splinter dust in your face, splinters in your hair, splits along the edges when working. climb cutting with a router is a must. But the depth,and tone are, worth the hassle of working with this wood.

Cocobola.
I need a respirator to machine it, requires acetone or lacquer thinner to not turn sanding paper into burn test plates. No buying adhesives at Home Depot to glue it.
This is the wood that turned me back to the dark side of handtools. They are a must with cocobola to get the full effect.

Macassar Ebony.
Beautiful, gorgeous, machines like a dream, puts a lot of fine itchy dust in the air, and you just about have to take out a second mortgage to buy any. I'm building a bathroom sink stand,out of it this spring. I can't wait to start.

Yep, too many nice woods out there to pick just one.

[Bob Aquino]

Jatoba. Beautiful wood, not too expensive, can still get some real nice wide pieces.

[Wade Lippman]

There are so many nice woods! But domestic I think butternut is the prettiest (if also the weakest) and imported I suppose you can't go wrong with mahogany.