MCCPS



Wood Shop Materials Research Packet

Compiled January 2011

Copy #

If found, please return to Mr. Stahl

Contents:

Pages 2-28: Descriptions and Properties of wood used in the MCCPS wood shop.

Pages 29-31: Table of Wood Properties

Pages 32-33: Wood Toxicity Information

Online Information Sources:

The Wood Box -

The Wood Database -

Ash

Uses:

Ash is a great craft wood, but best known as the wood of choice for baseball bats. Other woods are stronger, but it has the best strength to weight ratio, and since most players do not want a bat greater than 32 oz. this becomes significant. For the same reason, it is used for tool handles, hockey sticks, and canoe paddles. Historically it was used for food bowls because it had no significant odor or taste. Curved components for chairs, snowshoes and boats capitalize on its wonderful bending properties. Really you can use it for any fine woodworking, with only your imagination as the limiting factor

The Tree:Oleaceae (olive) Family

There are about 70 species in the world, and it is the oil in the wood that is chemically similar to olive oil, that links this tree with the Olive family. There are only about 17 types of this tree found in North America and only 2 or 3 that have any commercial significance. We predominately talk about white (Fraxinus Americana) and black (Fraxinus Nigra) ash in the lumber industry. The tree is never found in pure stands, but rather is widely distributed among other species

Wood Description:

The wood is straight-grained, open pored, and hard, with no distinctive taste or odor. It is tough and yet elastic, with high shock resistance and excellent steam bending characteristics. The wood is relatively stable with little downgrade in drying. It only occasionally shows interesting figure in crotch wood. It is not considered to be a durable wood when in contact with the ground. It is susceptible to fungal and beetle attack. White ash has quite a clear white to pale yellow sapwood, with heartwood pulling more to the light to medium tone browns. Often the commercial lumber yards pull the sap out of the pile to form a more consistent white stock in the higher grades.

Weight: approximately 41lbs/cu.ft.

Finishing:

Ash finishes relatively easily and takes a beautiful stain. It is ring porous, so if you are looking for a glass like finish you must use a pore filler. It can be stained to look like oak as the grain pattern of the two woods is very similar. Ash has less chatter (ie. the little lines) between the rows of open pores, so tends to stain a little brighter than oak. You must sand carefully to eliminate cross grain scratching, particularly if you are using a dark stain.

Machining:

Ash works easily with hand and power tools, with normal wear on cutting edges. It glues well, but pre-drilling is recommended. It holds screws well. It is most known for its excellent bending characteristics. It does have a very long fibre, so splintering can be a problem when turning it on the lathe. Make sure your tools are sharp and take a finer cut. Watch the grain direction, when jointing the edges.

Bloodwood

Uses:

Bloodwood is sometimes referred to as satine or cardinal wood, for its obvious beautiful deep rose colour. With age it's colour does darken, but not significantly so it is a great wood to use in intarsia projects, pool cues, bloodwood humidors and jewelry boxes, and occasionally the jewelry that goes inside.

I've had a few customers even use this exotic bloodwood lumber for guitar bodies but usually laminated to a lighter wood on the back to keep the weight down.

The Tree: Brosimum paraense is found in the tropical jungles of South America. It grows between 80-150 ft.

Wood Description:

The wood is very dense, with a tight fine, mostly linear grain. It is relatively difficult to plane without good equipment as it can have a tendency to tear out if your blades are not sharp.

Bloodwood wood can have a tendency to warp especially if resawing thin boards. I've not found bloodwood to be the most stable wood I've used, even once it has been dried properly, so if you are thinking of resawing any material, remember not to leave it around without weighing it down, or you'll come back in the morning and it will be twisted. Once it is locked into position say in the panel of a jewelry box, you rarely have trouble.

Weight: 75 lbs. Per cubic foot.

Finishing:


Bloodwood wood is relatively easy to finishes with no oils or sap pockets that I've come across. Takes on a beautiful shine with limited effort. The grain is so tight that you can get a jewelry finish with polishing up to 1000 grit.

Machining:


Machines moderately well. Very directional when planing. It sands easily, into very fine particles, to a glass like finish, as long as you use quality sandpaper, and take the time to work down the grit sizes ... well worth the work.

As with most very dense exotic woods bloodwood is best to mill just prior to glue up to get the best possible conditions for bonding. Using a water proof PVA glue with its extra holding power is not such a bad idea .. something like a Titebond III or Helmitin 805.. both handle exactly the same as a standard wood glue but of better quality and strength for difficult woods like bloodwood.

Birch

Uses:

Birch's ease of use and reasonable price, have made it a great craftwood, for almost any woodworking project. It's used extensively for firewood and makes wonderful ornamental trees. It has been turned to make all the toy parts you need, tongue depressors, tooth picks, pulped for paper, and turned into high end furniture. There is little it has not been used for.

The Tree: Betula family

Birch trees grow abundantly in North America, with nine species in this family that are relatively well known, but over 50 species found around the world, including many ornamental and shrub bushes. Yellow(silver or swamp birch) and paper (sometimes referred as white or canoe) birch are the two most common trees in Northern Ontario, although sweet, river and gray birch have some commercial recognition in other parts of Canada and the United States.

"White" birch, as we know it, is not really a species but rather a combination of either paper and/or gray birch. Red Birch is not a species at all, but rather refers to the heart stock of the yellow birch. Almost all members of this family have a smooth resinous white bark, that peels, rolls or curls, in some fashion. Some types of birch bark peels up the tree, rather than the traditional "around the tree". The bark gets very thick and deeply ridged as the tree gets older. Birches are usually the first to establish in cleared land, but start to die once other trees move in and offer shade. The trees will average a height of 70' and a diameter of 2'.

Wood Description:

The appearance of the wood will vary between species, but generally, the sap wood is creamy white and the heart stock, golden brown. Paper birch is predominately sap wood, with small brown knotty hearts. The wood is mostly white but as it nears the core will show brown flame patterns, with white sap edges.. quite dramatic. Yellow birch on the other hand, tends to be a larger tree and exhibits a more consistent golden brown colour, with little creamy white sap wood. Often yellow birch shows a nice curl pattern. In commercial operations, unlike maple, it is rarely sorted for colour.

All birch has a fine and uniform texture, closed pored and no significant odor. Birch dries with a fair amount of shrinkage. It loses almost 16% of its volume going from green to dry lumber and does like to warp and twist if enough weight is not applied to the green lumber as it air dries. Once dried it is stable. It is not resistant to decay, fungal and insect attack. Spalting is very common. Of all the quality domestic hardwoods, Birch would probably be the lowest in price. This is its most redeeming feature. A beautiful wood to look at and work with, and sold at a reasonable price.

Weight: 40-45lbs/cu.ft., white birch slightly lighter than yellow birch.

Finishing:

Birch stains and finishes easily, due to its closed pored structure. In fact often it is used as a substitute for Maple. Birch is significantly easier to stain, will give you an almost identical stained finish, but with much less grief, especially if you are trying for a relatively dark color.

Machining:

In all categories, birch exhibits good machining properties. It planes and sands to a smooth finish. It cuts and drills with limited difficulty although I would always predrill for nailing. Birch does hold nails and screws relatively well and glues up easily. Where curly or wild grain is apparent, you may have to be careful. Taking a shallower cut and using a cutting angle of 15 degrees will usually solve the problem. Look at the grain direction to determine the right feed direction when jointing. It turns with ease, but will show cross grain scratching so sand meticulously before staining.

Cannarywood

Botanical Name 
Liriodendron Tulipifera

Other Names 
Tulip Poplar, Popple, Saddletree, Whitewood (UK), Canary Whitewood, Tulip Tree (US)

Wood Description:

Color/Appearance: Heartwood color can vary a fair amount, from a pale yellow-orange to darker reddish brown, usually with darker streaks throughout. The color tends to darken with age: see the article Preventing Color Changes in Exotic Woods for more information.

Grain/Pore: Has a medium texture and small pores. The grain is typically straight, but can be irregular or wild on some pieces.

Mechanical Properties 


This medium density wood has low bending and resistance to shock loads, low stiffness and medium crushing strength. It also has a medium steam bending classification.

Weight: 50 lbs/ft3

Working Properties 


It is easy to work with hand and power tools and can be planed to a very smooth finish. Nailed, screwed and glued joints hold perfectly, and it can be stained, polished or painted and holds hard enamels.

Durability 


Rated as very durable in regard to decay resistance, as well as being resistant to termite and marine borer attack.

Uses 


Pattern making, carving, cabinetmaking, interior fittings, light construction, interior trim for boats, toys, doors. It is also used for plywood and core stock. Selected logs are sliced for veneers.

Comments 


Not to be confused with the softwood known as "Whitewood".

Jatoba/Brazillian Cherry

Uses


Jatoba wood, is often used in flooring but also ideal for stair treads, athletic equipment, tool handles, railroad ties, gear cogs and wheel rims. Can also be used for carpentry, cabinet making and general woodworking joinery. I have sold it to clients as a cheaper substitute for teak, when it is the appearance you are looking for and don't necessarily need the oily, rot resistant characteristics of teak. Jatoba and teak can look very similar.

The Tree:

Leguminosae Family
Jatoba (Hymenaea courbaril) grows to an average height of 120 feet with diameters of 2-4 feet. Jatoba is often referred to as Brazilian cherry although it is not a cherry wood, and has been called Locust or Courbaril in different areas of South America. It grows in most of the South American islands as well as Mexico, Brazil and Peru.

Wood Description: 


The wood is an attractive burgundy, deep red, or orange tone, and some of it can even have dark black stripes highlighting a strong visible grain pattern. It can exhibit quite a large colour variation from one board to the next.

The heartwood varies in colour from a salmon red to an orange brown when it is freshly cut which darkens to a red brown when seasoned. The sapwood can be wide and is much lighter in colour - either white or pink and sometimes gray and does not darken to the deep red-orange tones common with the heart wood. It is not as porous as mahogany but harder and denser.

Brazilian wood has a natural luster, with a medium to coarse texture. It has no obvious taste or odor. The heartwood is rated as only moderately resistance to attack by fungi and marine borers. Although the books might suggest the wood is relatively stable once it has been dried properly, my experience might suggest that every so often you'll get a few pieces of wood that really don't want to behave... they don't like to be glued and if they can twist, they will.. it is not one of the easiest woods I have used, but the gorgeous colours do warrant an extra bit of effort.

Weight: 56 lbs. per cubic foot.

Finishing: 
Jatoba sands and finishes easily. Polishing can create a wonderful luster. It stains well.

Machining:


Can be hard to work with, having severe blunting effect on tools. It is moderately difficulty to saw and machine because of the wood's high density and toughness. Experts recommend a reduced cutting angle of 20 degrees, and the use of carbide cutters as much as possible. The wood's interlocked grain also causes some difficulty in planing. Brazilian Cherry wood nails badly and must be pre-bored before nailing. The screw-holding ability is considered good. Although jatoba turns well, the grain can be somewhat powerful and require sharp tools to avoid tearout.

Cherry

Uses:

In cabinetmaking, cherry is rated one of the favorites because of its beauty and versatility� it has warmth, personality and charm. As a craftwood it cuts,stains and sands beautifully, which makes it a hobby wood of choice.

American black cherry is widely used for paneling and as a veneer, burial caskets and other specialty items such as gunstocks, tobacco pipes, musical instruments, turnery, carvings, etc. It is only moderately durable for outdoor projects. Cherry wood is my personal favorite, of all the domestic wood species.

The Tree: Prunus Serotina Family

Black cherry stands alone for its commercial value as a lumber wood. Other cherry trees most often function as decorative trees or fruit bearers. Black cherry is characterized by late maturing fruit and is distinct from the other cherries because it has dark bark with irregular scales that peel off easily and a light to dark reddish brown heartwood.

The fruit of this tree is small and purple coloured with a bitter taste and is used to flavour jelly and beverages. At one point it was used to make a very potent liquor. American colonists used the bark as a drug to treat bronchitis and cherry stalks were used to make tonics. Its grows predominately in east-central North America, with smaller shorter trees more common in southern eastern Canada.

Wood Description:

Cherry has a pale yellowish sapwood and a darker heartwood. The wood's colour deepens to its characteristic reddish brown, almost mahogany-like colour when exposed to the sun. The sapwood never darkens to the same colour of the heartwood. Cherry often shows a waving curly figure when finished. Heartwood can have dark spots or fine black lines that are actually gum pockets, that pose added challenges in finishing. Often maple is stained to look like cherry in furniture components that require a more dense wood.

Weight: 35 lbs. Per cubic foot.

Finishing:

The grain pattern welcomes a full range of medium to dark finishes and bleaching treatments. The best way to achieve a uniform deep red colour is to let mother nature do her work rather than attempt staining. If you have to replace a board, remember in time, the sunlight will darken all cherry, even if it doesn't look like it matches in the beginning. It has been suggested by some of my customers that aniline dyes work particularly well on cherry, but I have no experience in this area. Scratches show up easily on cherry so pay attention to your sanding preparation.

Machining:

Wood is uniform in texture and machines well with normal wear on your tools. Its tight fine grain routes well but does have a tendency to burn, so stick with carbide bits and don't stop the router on the wood. Watch the feed direction when jointing, particularly on boards that show a nice curl. Likewise when thickness planing, keep your passes to less that a 1/16" and always pay attention to the feed direction. If tear out occurs, you can always reverse the direction. Obviously you don't want to be experimenting on the last pass. Cherry turns beautifully, but you must sand with the grain to eliminate the cross grain marks.

Cocobolo Wood

Uses:


Cocobolo Wood is probably best known exotic wood for decorative elements like pepper mills, cocobolo jewlery boxes, knife handles, police nightsticks, and even beads, canes, gun grips, guitars and bowling balls.

The natural oils in cocobolo lumber prevent water absorption and its inherent hardness protects the wood from daily use making it an appropriate exotic wood species especially for kitchen utensils.

 

The Tree: Family Dalbergia retusa


Cocobolo is often referred to as a Mexican Rosewood, Granadillo or Cocobolo rosewood. As with all rosewoods they are part of the 'Dalbergia' species, predominately growing in Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua as well as the southern extremes of Mexico.

Dalbergia granadillo is also a form of cocobolo, a closely related cousin infact, typically from the more northern sections of Mexico. It tends to have less dramatic colouring and thus less likely to be seen on the cocobolo exotic wood markets. If purchasing cocobolo online be sure to ask about the exact species, if it is not noted one way or the other.

Cocobolo trees take many years to mature and in some areas like Costa Rica harvesting cocobolo trees requires special permits. Thus much of the wood on the market today comes from managed tree farms. Natural forests have been largely exploited and these countries are slowly adopting more sustainable practices. This will take many years to rebuild inventory and in the meantime cocobolo will be in relatively short supply.


Properties of Cocobolo Lumber: 


As with all members of the rosewood family they can exhibit exciting swirls of colour and in the case of cocobolo wood, include deep oranges, blacks and browns. The colours can appear as if they are swirling together like potions in a witches brew or run in a less dramatic pattern banded parallel to the length of the wood.. This is largely dependent on how it was cut in relationship to the growth rings of the tree and from the from which part of Latin America it grew in. Typically, Guatemalan cocobolo tends to be quite a bit darker. Each board and cocobolo tree has its own unique pattern. With exposure to light the colour darken and develop a rich patina.

The sapwood is almost white and most often trimmed from export grade exotic wood. It can offer an interesting high contrast band on the right small turning, as with this wine bottle stopper.

It is difficult to find cocobolo veneer as the tree is rarely found large enough or of sufficient quality to make it feasible to send to a veneer mill. 8/4 cocobolo turning squares are the most common. Lumber suitable for small decorative wood lathe work.

As with many dense tropical woods cocobolo is quite resistant to both natural decay and insects.

Weight: 68 lbs per cu.ft. dry weight

Finishing:


Spray on lacquers work well and give you the ability to buff out any minor defects. A low gloss sheen shows off the exotic figure.

For the more patient woodworker hand rubbed wax finishes work quite well in combination with the natural oils of cocobolo to achieve a pretty wonderful effect. Its natural oils prevent water absorption so hand rubbed finishes compliment the woods natural defense system.


Machining:


As with most dense woods, cocobolo wood requires sharp tools for machining. Experience suggests that planing with less than, will cause some tear out and could destroy a beautiful board so now use a helical head on my planer for all exotic woods.

It cuts surprisingly easy on a bandsaw. Cocobolo wood's extreme density can cause a router bit to hope along the edge so a final micro pass can improve your overall appearance. If predrilling and inserting screws on crossgrain boards, excessive torque can split the wood, as I find it a bit brittle. It turns beautifully.

It is recommended to use a waterproof glue such as titebond III to offer added holding capacity for such a tight grained wood. Freshly saw and joint JUST PRIOR to glue up to give the oils less time to migrate to the surface and affect adhesion.

Finishing:

Cocobolo wood can be sanded to a very fine sheen but quality automotive sandpaper is essential. The oils self lubricate the paper and in fact encourage the sawdust to cling to the wood, thus important to thoroughly clean the surface before lacquering.

As with many exotic woods, the dust produced in milling can be an irritant both to the skin and the lungs, so best to work with it in a small way to first determine your personal tolerance and always wear a dust mask. The beauty of exotic Cocobolo wood is worth all the extra fuss!

Black Gaboon Ebony Wood

(diospyros crassiflora)

Uses:

Gaboon ebony wood is an exotic wood probably most known for its use as fingerboards and keys for various musical instruments. In second place ebony wood, in its various species is the wood of choice for many decorative turners, both the commercial pool cue turner and you & I doing it in the basement. Its great for pens, bottle stoppers, knife handles and jewelry boxes.

Other Names: African Ebony, Cameroon, Nigerian Ebony

The Tree:

Ebony is the Greek word for "fruit of the gods". Historically drinking goblets were made from its wood, as they believed it was an antidote for poison, and its use would ward off their enemy's evil intent. This may be the origin for many that think today, that a wooden wand made of gaboon ebony has magical powers.

There are 100's of types of ebony worldwide, but most are only shrubs, and only one found in N. America .. the persimmon tree. This species know for it's use in the manufacture of golf clubs.

The trees today are few and far between, and of a much smaller size then 20 year ago, ... found on the Asian, Indian and African continent. They can grow to 50' in height & 1.5 ft. around, but you're talking about a tree over 100 years old. The Gaboon Ebony wood can be also referred to as "African Ebony" and does in fact come predominately from Africa.

Wood Description:

Gaboon ebony wood is the most pure black of the lot, but can have occasional chocolate brown seams, especially in the middle of larger chunks. You can pay significantly more for wood that is guaranteed to be pure black throughout. The sap wood is a light gray offering extreme contrasts in colour that can add dramatic flare to small turning projects like pens and bottle stoppers.

Today it is getting more difficult to get the pure black ebonys of the world, and instrument makers are sometimes resorting to dying the wood to improve colour consistency, or finding synthetic substitutes.

Weight: Approximately 65+ lbs per cubic foot

Finishing:

The wood is very dense thus no fillers are necessary. It finishes to a beautiful sheen, with limited effort... that being said I do have one customer that inserts ebony into a vacuum chamber to stabilize it in all his knife making adventures.

Machining:

Must have sharp tools, dulling will occur, but cuts easily with a bandsaw and turns beautifully on a lathe. Sanding works quite well with power tools, but next to impossible with hand sanding (forget the cheap sandpaper, it won't touch it, shop at your local automotive supplier). Burning can happen if you exert too much pressure on a dull sanding belt, so start with a fresh one.

I've found it an easy wood to glue, and the gaboon ebony wood takes a wonderful finish.

Maple

Uses:

Hard Maple is currently used for furniture, cabinets, decorative woodwork, flooring, veneers, cutting surfaces, bowling pins, utensils, and bowls.. Ideal for ballroom and gymnasium floors as well as cutting boards and countertops. We think of curly maple as the wood of choice for violin makers. It looks beautiful and resonates sound to perfection. The soft maples are often used as a cheaper substitute for hard maple mouldings, or in applications where the trim is painted. It is used extensively in the box making industry, and often soft maple boxes are then covered with decorative wood veneers. Generally speaking maples are a great all round woodworking lumber.

Curly Maple is a general term used to describe a number of “figures” (patterns in the grain of the wood).

For Birdseye Maple see below

The Tree: Acer Family

There are some 200 species of trees and shrubs worldwide. Acer means hard or sharp in latin, somewhat appropriate for many of the family members. The American species are actually divided into two groups: hard and soft. Sugar maple (or rock maple:acer saccharum) is the most common hard maple, the most commercially important and the most abundant type found in the U.S.

Silver, Red Maple and Boxelder are the most common soft maple species. They grow extensively across North America, on both coast. The commercial species grow tall with relatively decent diameters. The farther north you go the larger the hearts are in the trees and the more colour variation in the wood.

Wood Description:

Hard Maple: Tends to have cream to white sapwood and light reddish brown heartstock, usually straight grained and sometimes found with high figured bird's eye or burl grain. Bird's-eye resembles small circular or elliptical figures and only found in sugar maple. Clusters of round curls that grow into balls on the sides of trees, are known as burls. They are common in the big leaf maple of the west coast. Hard maple is heavy, hard, strong, tough, stiff, close grained and possesses a uniform texture. It sands to a beautiful tight finish. Excellent resistance to abrasion, indentation and shock. Often the heart stock, shows black mineral lines and darker grey streaking, particularly in wood milled in the northern part of its range. Commercially it is usually sorted by colour.

Soft Maples: These trees tend to be very similar to the hard maples but much lighter in density. The sapwood can be very white and often show nice curl. The heartwood is tan to gray in colour, often with extreme colour changes on one board. Soft maple is almost never sorted by colour.

Both species are relatively stable once dried correctly, but can pose problems in their green state. Maples are notorious for staining when they are first cut. Most mills cut maple and then immediately dry it before it has the chance to stain.

Weight: Hard maple:42-45 lbs./cuft. Soft: 35 lbs/cuft.

Finishing:

Maple is a beautiful wood to apply a clear coat. The tight grain makes pore filling unnecessary and it is easy to get a glass like finish if you have taken the time to work down the grit and sand with the grain.

Staining maple on the other hand can be a nightmare. It just doesn't like to accept stain uniformly, especially dark stains. Fanatical sanding to 400 can, I'm told, eliminate many of the problems, I'm not sure that I believe it though.

The wood can look perfect and then with the application of a little stain a blotch can appear for no visible reason right smack in the middle of a wide plank. It has been commented on extensively but little understanding of its cause or appropriate solution.. Some suggest that the use of a conditioner may make your results more consistent. Try aniline dyes. Many of my customers use a combined spray on stain or top coat + stain combination to try to avoid these strange maple habits.

Soft maple is less likely to do this.

Machining:

Hard Maple is probably the most difficult North American species to work with. It is dense and difficult to cut without good sharp carbide tools. If it has not been dried properly the wood can have a lot of tension in it and be very inclined to pinch your blade as it goes through the saw.

It has high dulling affect on most tools. Pre-drill for nailing and remove shavings frequently. Watch for burn marks with routers. They are hard to remove after the fact. Always note the direction of feed on planers and jointers. If it tears out, reduce the depth of cut and change the feed direction. Reduced cutting angle for planing or molding on quartered surfaces. Maple, is though, an excellent turnery wood and requires little sanding if cut with sharp chisels.

Soft Maple on the other hand, works much like cherry. It is relatively easy to machine but can tearout on boards that exhibit curl. It sands beautifully. Soft maple holds edges well for corner joinery.

Birdseye and other figured maples never like to be planed and always work better with sanders rather than planers. Always move with caution with these woods. All Maples glue relatively well, but the hard maples are so hard that they do not absorb the glue easily, so use a "thick" high viscosity glue, that you are less likely to squeeze out of the joint on clamping. If you tighten excessively, it forces the glue out of the joint and causes "joint failure".

Birdseye Maple

Birdseye Maple is not technically a distinct species of Maple, but rather, it’s a figure that’s occasionally found in Acer saccharum (Sugar Maple) trees. It’s named “birdseye” (sometimes simply written out as: Bird’s Eye Maple) because the figure resembles small bird’s eyes.

The figure is reportedly caused by unfavorable growing conditions for the tree. The Sugar Maple attempts to start numerous new buds to get more sunlight, but with poor growing conditions the new shoots are aborted, and afterward a number of tiny knots remain.

Birdseye Maple is frequently sold in veneer form, but solid lumber is available as well. Being tiny knots, the birdseye figure is most noticeable and pronounced on flatsawn pieces of lumber.

African Mahogany

Uses: 

Mahogany is regarded by many as the world's premier wood for fine cabinetry, high-class furniture, trimming fine boats, pianos and other musical instruments, sculpture, joinery, turnery, figured and decorative veneer, interior trim, and carving.

The Tree: Swietenia macrophylla 

In the natural rainforest of western Africa, Mahogany is a very large canopy tree, sometimes reaching over 150 feet in height, with trunks sometimes more than 6 feet in diameter. Mahogany is one of the most valuable timber trees and has been heavily exploited for most of this century. Mahogany is becoming increasingly rare, and is already extinct in parts of its Latin American range.

Wood Description:

Mahogany varies from yellowish, reddish, pinkish, or salmon colored when freshly cut, to a deep rich red, to reddish brown as the wood matures with age. Mahogany is fine to medium texture, with uniform to interlocking grain, ranging from straight to wavy or curly. Irregularities in the grain often produce highly attractive figures such as fiddleback or mottle.

Weight: 43 lbs/cubic foot

Finishing:

Mahogany polishes to a high luster and readily accepts a wide range of common stains and finish.

Machining:

Mahogany is one of the best woods for machining, cutting, and planing. Tools should be kept sharp, and a low angle should be used when planing Mahogany with a wavy grain pattern. Mahogany can be sanded very easily and efficiently. Routered edges are crisp and sharp. Honduras Mahogany also turns well on a lathe.

Narra

Uses:

The hardwood, which is purplish, is termite resistant and rose-scented. The wood known in Indonesia as amboyna is the burl of the tree, named after Ambon, where much of this material was originally found. Often amboyna is finely sliced to produce an extremely decorative veneer, used for decoration and in making of furniture and keys on a marimba.

The Tree:

Narra is a hardwood that belongs to the species of Pterocarpus and is indigenous to many Southeastern Asian countries. Australasian as well as Polynesian countries have them in abundance as well. It is known by others names where they grow like Sonokembang in Indonesia, Angsana or Sena in Malaysia.Singapore,  Tnug in Cambodia, and Pradu in Thailand. It is the national tree of the Philippines.

The Narra tree is a large deciduous tree that often reaches a height of 30–40 meters with a trunk growing up to 2 meters in diameter. Most Pterocarpus species prefer seasonal weather but the species P. indicus prefer rainforests.  Their abundance makes them suitable for unrestricted logging operations for commercial use and their repopulation is relatively easy to accomplish.

Tree Size: 65-100 ft (20-30 m) tall, 3-5 ft (1-1.5 m) trunk diameter

Weight: 41 lbs/ft3

Color/Appearance:

Heartwood can vary widely in color, ranging from a golden yellow to a reddish brown.

Grain/Pore:

Narra has a medium texture and small pores. Grain is usually interlocked, and can sometimes be wavy, or display a variety of figuring such as: ribbon-stripe, mottle, or curl.

Durability:

Narra has good weathering characteristics and is typically very durable regarding decay resistance. It is generally resistant to termite and powder post beetle attack, though there can occasionally be ambrosia beetles present, especially in the sapwood.

Workability:

Easy to work with both hand and machine tools, one of Narra’s only downsides is that it has a moderate blunting effect on cutters. Narra turns, glues, and finishes well.

Smell: Narra has a distinct fragrance that lingers even after being worked.

Padauk

The Tree: Pterocarpus soyauxii

Also known as barwood, comwood, corail, African coralwood, muenge, mbe, mbil, mututi, ngula, vermillion, and yomo. Tree Size:100-130 ft (30-40 m) tall, 2-4 ft (.6-1.2 m) trunk diameter

Sources: 
Grows in central and West Africa.

Appearance 


Heartwood color can vary, ranging from a pale pinkish orange to a deep brownish red. Most pieces tend to start reddish orange when freshly cut, darkening substantially over time to a reddish/purplish brown. Padauk’s initial orange coloration can be preserved through various finishing procedures.

Physical Properties


Hard, heavy, and strong with exceptional decay resistance and dimensional stability. Not suitable for steam bending.

Weight: 46 lbs/ft3

Machining:

Works well with hand and machine tools. Glues easily and holds nails and screws well. Finishes to a beautiful sheen without the need for stain.

Uses


Excellent turning wood - used for fancy turnery such as knife and tool handles. Also prized for high end cabinets, furniture, carving, veneer, inlay, flooring, dyewood, joinery, dowels, shuttles, spindles, paddles, and boat building.

Yellow Poplar

Uses:

Poplar is used in light construction, furniture, kitchen cabinets, doors, musical instruments, exterior siding, paneling, turnings and carvings.

Poplar wood is also widely used in the snowboard industry for the snowboard core, because it has exceptional flexibility, and is sometimes used in the bodies of electric guitars and drums. It is also sold as inexpensive hardwood timber, used for pallets and cheap plywood; more specialized uses include matches and the boxes in which camembert cheese is sold. Poplar is widely used for the manufacture of paper.

The Tree: Liriodendron Tulipifera

Poplar trees grow taller than any other U.S. hardwood species and they are members of the magnolia family. The bark, leaves, flowers, fruit and roots contain pharmaceuticals. Poplar is the state tree of Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee. Poplar trees are widespread throughout the Eastern United States. Trees can reach 150 feet tall.

Wood Description:

The soft, fine-grained wood of tulip trees is misleadingly known as "poplar" (short for "yellow poplar") in the U.S., but marketed abroad as "American tulipwood" or by other names. It is very widely used where a cheap, easy-to-work and stable wood is needed. The sapwood is usually a creamy off-white color. While the heartwood is usually a pale green, it can take on streaks of red, purple, or even black; depending on the extractives content (i.e. the soil conditions where the tree was grown, etc.). It is clearly the wood of choice for use in organs, due to its ability to take a fine, smooth, precisely-cut finish and so to effectively seal against pipes and valves. It is also commonly used for siding clapboards. Its wood may be compared in texture, strength, and softness to white pine.

Used for interior finish of houses, for siding, for panels of carriages, for coffin boxes, pattern timber, and woodenware. During scarcity of the better qualities of white pine, tulip wood has taken its place to some extent, particularly when very wide boards are required.

Weight: 29-lbs/cu. ft.

Finishing:

Poplar takes and holds paint, enamel and stain exceptionally well. Finishing is generally good but can often come out blotched or uneven. Variation in the color of the wood, such as green streaks, can often lead to different colors in the finish.

Machining:

Poplar is a versatile wood that is easy to machine, plane, turn, glue and bore. It dries easily with minimal movement in performance and has little tendency to split when nailed.

Purpleheart Wood

Uses:

What possibly could be the uses for a purple-coloured wood? Billiard cue butts, gym equipment and chemical vats, to name a few. This wood has a wide variety of craft uses from the practical to the sublime. It is sliced for decorative veneers and used in cabinetry and furniture, sculpture, turnery and has a variety of specialty uses that includes diving boards, skis or filter press frames.

Purple heart wood is also used to make parquet and traditional flooring, tool handles and even for marine & bridge building. Your imagination is the only limitation.

The Tree: Leguminosae Family

Includes 20 species of Peltogyne, and has been called amaranth, violetwood, tananeo and saka depending on what country you are visiting.

Found in Central and South America, this exotic wood is a worldwide favorite. Tall and large trees grow abundantly, sometimes reaching a diameter of five feet with clear knot free log lengths typical. We have customers that own a saw mill in Mexico, and tell us that their neighbors frequently use it for exterior steps because it is very resistant to attack by fungi and dry-wood termites

Wood Description: 


Purpleheart has a creamy white/gray sapwood but like its name suggests, the heartwood is a bright, striking purple when freshly cut, darkening into a deeper purple with age. It has a medium to fine texture with a luster that ranges from medium to high; its grain is usually straight but can be wavy or irregular. Purpleheart has high bending and crushing strength and stiffness with medium resistance to shock loads. A great feature when used as truck decking.

Weight: 50-70 lbs/cuft.:
a very broad range of weight depending on origin of lumber.

Machining:

Purpleheart has a moderate to severe blunting effect on tools; sharp, high speed steel knives therefore are recommended as are 15 degree cutting angles. It can be somewhat difficult to work with using either hand or machine tools.

Some wood seems to be relatively soft textured and easy to cut and other wood has been so hard it burns all your tools, so there is a high degree of variability in cutting characteristics, depending on the piece of wood or possibly the exact species of Peltogyne that you received. Watch particularly carefully the grain direction on planing any wood that shows an interlocking grain. It has a nasty habit of tearing out when you least expect it.

Pre-drilling purple heart wood is always recommended. I find the wood quite brittle especially if drilling close to the end of a board. It is likely to split so tighten screws with caution.

It does rate highly for turnery though and with sharp chisels can come to a beautiful sheen. Watch for burning while routing as it is pretty easy to burn if your cutter is dull or you're going too slow. Burn marks are very difficult to remove from purpleheart.

Red Oak

Uses:

Red oak is largely cut into lumber, railroad ties, mine timbers, fenceposts, veneer, pulpwood and fuelwood. It is remanufactured into flooring, furniture, general millwork, boxes, pallets and crates, caskets, wooden ware and handles.

Red oak is not suitable for tight cooperage or exterior work. Oak is full of tannic acid and in fact the tannic acid in the bark was used for tanning animal hides for centuries. When the tannic acid mixes with the iron in our water it creates a chemical blue dye. This is why red oak stains black when water is allowed to penetrate the surface.....and why you must be careful not to get water on your red oak flooring. It is its closely related cousin "white oak" that we associate with exterior usage and rot resistance..

The Tree: Quercus Rubra

Northern red oak is the largest group in this family and has the broadest distribution across North America. It has great commercial significance. The trees can grow to 150' and 4'+ in diameter. There are many other varieties of red oak, Shumard, black, scarlet, water, willow, pin and nuttal oak, that grow in more select areas, but generally red oaks are broadly distributed across the United States and southeastern Canada.

White Oaks are separated from their cousins in the red oak family. The pores of the heartwood of white oaks are usually plugged with a membranous growth known as tyloses. This makes it impenetrable to liquids and ideally suited to the boat industry. The red oak, on the other hand, has no tylose in its cells, and thus not used in any marine based applications.

Wood Description:

The sapwood is nearly white and usually one to two inches thick; the heartwood is brown with a tinge of red or pink. It seems that the farther south the wood is cut the redder and coarser it gets. Due to slower growth, wood cut in northern US and southern Canada has a finer texture, more consistent pale pink colour and somewhat denser, than central or southern US oak.

Northern Oak is preferred in all turning and flooring applications. Southern oak is easier to mill, due to its softer texture, but does have more tendency to splinter and tearout. The wood is most often straight grained, and open pored. It can be steam bent with caution. After drying properly it is one of the most dimensionally stable domestic woods, even in wider widths. It is broadly available in a good selection of widths and thicknesses. Lower grades show significant variation in colour and of coarse knots.

Weight: average for all red oaks is 48 lbs. per cu.ft.

Finishing:

Red Oak finishes and stains easily. It has none of the blotching problems that are associated with birch or maple. The open pores absorb more stain, so the grain pattern becomes quite evident when a dark stain is applied to red oak. If you hope to achieve a near glass like appearance with the top coat, it is almost always necessary to use a pore filler. For effect, try top coating a couple of times and then tint the pore filler a contrasting colour, fill the pores, sand and then top coat again. The effect is quite fascinating.

Machining:

All oaks have a relatively normal dulling effect on cutting edges. It is not quite as easy as cherry or walnut to cut, but certainly not as hard as maple. Red oak sands easily. The wood does have a strong grain, so you do have to be careful in routing across the grain. Route the end grain first and then the side grain, hoping the second pass will remove any tear out. Oak can edge burn, but if your knives are sharp and you don't stall the router in any one place, it is not a major problem. The burn marks do sand off.

Always feed oak through the jointer, aware of correct grain direction. It is a good idea to predrill holes for nails or screws. Using proper drill bits, designed for wood, will help to reduce the amount of walk occurring in any drilling operation.

Oak glues easily, but it is a good idea to remove the excess before it dries. If this comes in contact with iron bar clamps, the resulting blue stain may penetrate and stain your panel. As a turning wood, it tends to splinter, but can be cut with sharp tools and a little experience.

Spanish Cedar

Uses:

Spanish Cedar is widely used as a construction timber in South America, as well as for furniture and paneling. But in N.America, spanish cedar is really known for its very distinctive fragrance, and thus as the wood of choice for lining humidors, cigar boxes and cigar wrappers. Applications for the wood also include craft projects, high-end cabinetry and furniture, clothing chests, interior joinery, patterns, lead pencils, boat building, canoe decks and musical instrument parts.

The Tree: Cedrela Fissilis Family

This species grows almost everywhere in Central and South America and is known by a wide variety of names. The family consist of about seven species. An interesting fact about Spanish cedar is that it is not really a cedar at all. In fact, it is a deciduous tree. The oils in the heartwood do have a distinct cedar smell, so I suppose that is how it got named. These trees average 100 feet in height with 6 foot diameters. The Amazon Indians chose these trees to carve their canoes.

Wood Description:

Spanish cedar will vary in colour depending on the origin and soil conditions but generally it has a pinkish to red coloured heartwood which darkens with exposure, to either a red-brown or red-purple tone. Although they suggest that the sapwood can be pink or white, I must tell you that all the wood I have seen is pretty consistent in colour.. maybe that is because they leave the sapwood in the bush.

The wood is usually straight grained, but can be interlocked. It has a fine and uniform texture.

From the literature I have read, it suggests that Spanish Cedar is rot resistant and impervious to termites, so it should make great outdoor furniture, but have yet to test this in our extreme northern environment.

Weight: 24-55 lbs./ft3 - average of 30 lbs./ft3

Finishing:

Stains and finishes well though innate oils can sometimes be a problem in finishing. In most humidor applications it is left unfinished, allowing the wood's natural oils to add flavor to the cigars

Machining:

Spanish Cedar has moderately good steam bending qualities. It dries rapidly with minor warping and slight checking. It works well and easily with hand and machine tools. Experts recommend sharp cutting edges to avoid wooliness. It has good nailing and gluing properties. Generally I've found spanish cedar to be a relatively easy wood to work with, although the oil makes it somewhat of a smelly operations.. For furniture I might chose a mahogany instead.

TulipWood

Not to be confused with American Tulipwood, (more commonly referred to as Tulip Poplar or Yellow Poplar), Brazilian Tulipwood is considered a true rosewood in the Dalbergia genus.

Tulipwood is a stunningly beautiful hardwood which is in short supply. The tree itself is only found in a narrow geographical area, and it’s small enough to be considered a shrub: typically yielding very small and narrow boards. Because of these limitations, Tulipwood is generally reserved for very small specialty wood items and accent pieces.

Common uses include: veneer, fine furniture, inlay, marquetry, musical instruments (percussion), and small turned objects.

Tree Size: 20-30 ft (6-9 m) tall, less than 1 ft (.3 m) trunk diameter

Weight: 62 lbs/ft3

Color/Appearance:

Heartwood is streaked with yellows, reds, oranges, and pinks. Color and figure can be highly variegated.

Grain/Pore: Pores are open and medium-sized. Grain is usually straight, with a fine texture.

Durability: Reported as having a low decay resistance, although it is resistant to insect attack.

Workability: Tends to be difficult to work due to its high density; also has a blunting effect on cutters. Can be difficult to glue do to an abundance of natural oils and high density. Turns very well and takes a high polish.

Smell: Has a mild, fragrant odor when being worked.

Wenge

Botanical Name 
Milletia Laurentii

Other Names 
Palisandre Du Congo, Dikela, Mibotu, Bokonge, Awong.

Mechanical Properties 


This heavy, dense wood has a high bending strength and high resistance to shock loads, with medium crushing strength and low stiffness. It has a low steam bending classification.

Tree Size: 60-90 ft (18-27 m) tall, 3-4 ft (1-1.2 m) trunk diameter

Weight: 57 lbs/ft3

Working Properties 


The material works fairly well with machine tools and with moderate blunting effect on cutters. The presence of resin cells in the wood sometimes interferes with gluing and polishing. Nailing is difficult and requires pre-boring. When filled, it can be brought to a satisfactory finish. Can sand unevenly due to differences in density between light and dark areas. Can easily get splinters when handling this wood.

Durability 


Durable and resistant to termites. It is extremely resistant to preservative treatment.

Uses 


The high natural resistance to abrasion makes this timber very suitable for flooring strips or blocks. Also used for interior and exterior joinery and general construction work. It is an excellent turning wood. Sliced for decorative and paneling veneers.

American Walnut

Uses:

Walunut lumber is used for fine furniture, architectural woodwork, musical instruments, decorative panels, interior trim, and flooring. Large amounts are also used for veneer. Its stability and shock resistance make it the wood of choice for gun stocks. Many customers appreciate its "easy of use" and beautiful colours to use as a craft wood in all their small turning and scrollsaw projects. The fact that it is the only dark North American wood, has added to its reputation.

The Tree: Juglandaceae family

The black walnut's specific name is J.nigra. The black walnut is sometimes called eastern or American black walnut. There are about twenty species of walnut with six found in the U.S.A. Black walnuts were once abundant in old growth forests with trees reaching 150 feet with six-foot diameter trunks. Today's trees are generally 80-100 feet tall with trunks of less than three feet.

The black walnut has one "bad habit" however in that it can poison neighbouring trees and shrubs with a substance called juglone in its roots. This is its way of protecting its territory and assuring its access to good sunlight necessary for its growth.

It typically grows in a mixed hardwoods forest, with light coverage.

Wood Description:

The sapwood is creamy white and may be three inches wide. Heartwood is a rich chocolate or purplish brown in colour, with a dull sheen. Black walnut is normally straight grained and is noted for its beautiful grain character, producing more figure variation than any other wood. Over the years the wood develops a lustrous patina. It is the only dark brown domestic species, so it has a large following of devoted woodworkers, that enjoy its rich colour and ease of use.

Weight: approx. 36-38 lbs. per cubic foot

Finishing:

Walnut takes any finish and most complement the lovely satin sheen of the wood. It polishes well. Rarely do you find sap pockets that cause difficulty.

Machining:

Walnut works easily with power or hand tools but may cause some dulling of cutting edges. Planing, turning, shaping, routing and sanding all produce crisp detail. With figured crotch wood it is necessary to watch the direction of feed, in both thickness planers and jointers. Fasteners hold well with little tendency to split. Standard adhesives and stains go on uniformly. Wood is rated tough and hard with good steam bending qualities and little movement in service. Wood and sawdust of black walnut are known to cause irritation of the eyes, nose, skin and lungs, and may stimulate allergies and asthma - precautionary measures are advised... a good dust mask is essential.

Western Red Cedar

Uses:

Western red cedar siding is probably the number one use of red cedar in the home constructions industry. It typically comes in a number of different profiles from cedar shake siding and shingles to western red cedar log siding cut in a profile to offer the visuals of a real log home.

At one time it was widely used for telephone and transmission poles although I believe today it has somewhat been replaced by man-made alternatives.

Western red cedar sign blanks are probably the largest "craft" use of this wood. It makes fine lumber for decorative uses, such as interior wall paneling in both knotty and clear grades especially for those passionate about building a sauna. Small quantities are used for craft projects, window parts, pencils and other manufactured products, and as suggested earlier, large quantities of cedar sign blanks.

Other applications include caskets, wooden pipe and tanks, outdoor patio and greenhouse construction, and small outdoor structures where exposure to weather is severe. It is one of the better boat and canoe building woods and in thin veneers is the principal wood selected for covering racing shells. It is used extensively for sawn shingles, split roof and siding shakes, fence posts and rails, because of its natural durability.

That being said its rot resistance has come under scrutiny lately as a number of buildings thought to be good for 30 years are now showing rot after only 6 years... current research is differentiating between the resistance of "sapwood" vs "heartwood and finding significant life expectancy differences between old (heart) and young (sap) wood.

The Tree: Thuja Plicata Family
Western

Red Cedar, as the name would suggest, is predominantly a west coast species, growing from Oregon all the way up to Alaska. It has been called canoe-cedar, shinglewood and Pacific cedar.

Under the most favorable growing conditions, it can attain heights in excess of 200 feet with diameters up to 16 feet. The trunk in older trees is buttressed, often fluted, and rapidly tapering. The Western red cedar is a prodigious seed producer.

Wood Description:

The heartwood is reddish brown or pinkish brown to dull brown, and typically much darker than sapwood which is nearly white. The wood is almost always straight-grained, easily split, and has a uniform but rather coarse texture. It is moderately soft, light weight and low in strength.

Its heartwood is very resistant to decay, an important feature if you are interested in installing western red cedar siding, shakes or shingles. Sapwood, more common today as we harvest younger and smaller trees is not nearly as rot resistant as suggested earlier, and may explain why the life expectancy of some cedar log siding installations are not performing as would be expected.

Western Red Cedar dries easily with very little shrinkage, another feature significant to the success of the red cedar siding, shakes and shingle market.

It has a very distinctive smell, in fact the aromatic oils can adversely affect some individuals with lung sensitivities.

Weight: 24 lbs. Per cubic foot.

Finishing: 


Western Red Cedar is rated the best softwood in paint holding ability. Its ability to receive paint and stain finishes allows a wide range of effects to be achieved.

Machining:


Machines easily with both hand or power tools and planes to a smooth finish that is rich and lustrous. Western red cedar is easy to cut or split along the grain. The long fibers can cause tearout on cross grain routing. It nails easily without predrilling, but if you want a clean hole, it is best to predrill countersink holes for screws.

Western Red Cedar is difficult to turn, due to its coarse, fibrous structure, but of course given that most of us use it as cedar shake siding and shingles, or cedar sign blanks, its turning ability is somewhat insignificant.

YellowHeart

Uses:

Pau Amarello or Yellowheart, is a yellow exotic wood used predominately as a craftwood ..... cabinets, furniture, flooring and decorative turnings, particularly in inlays when a colour contrast is desired. Its bright yellow colour, gives it great appeal, for specialty woodworkers that are looking for an exotic wood to highlight their woodcraft project.

The Tree: Euxylophora paraensis 
Rutaceae family: Pau Amarello trees can grow to more than 130 feet tall and 30" in diameter. It has large leaves upwards of 10" long and 4" wide. It has a wonderful show of creamy white, fragrant flowers. Pau Amarello trees are found almost exclusively in the State of Para, Brazil.

Common Names: Amarello, Pequia setim, yellowheart, lima orana, pau setim, satinwood, boxwood, canary wood or sateen.

Wood Description: 


Pau amarello heartwood is a bright yellow colour, darkening a little on exposure to sunlight. There is little differentiation between heartwood and sapwood, or between spring and summer growth rings. The colour is very consistent across the wood. It is usually straight grained and uniform, with no distinctive taste or odor. It dries relatively easily with limited checking and cracking. Dust from pau amarello or yellowheart lumber can cause skin rashes so take proper care if you have a sensitivity.

Weight: approximately 54lbs/cu.ft.

Finishing: 


Yellowheart is not an oily wood, so I've found little difficulty in finishing it. It seems to finish with relative ease. Fine sanding produces a nice sheen.

Machining:


This wood is relatively easy to work with for both hand and power tools, although typically when planning you have to pay more attention to the grain direction. It does like to tear out. It nails adequately, glues easily and sands to a high polish.

Pau Amarello can exhibit a curly figure, then known as pau setim. Figured wood of this sort is much more difficult to plane, usually requiring an abrasive sander to avoid grain tearout.

Zebrawood

Uses:

Zebrawood is truly an exotic wood, used in a limited way for veneer, wall paneling, custom furniture, furniture trim, inlay bandings, marquetry, specialty items and turnery. Because of its hardness, it can also be used for skis and tool handles but that might seem like quite a shame for such a dramatic, exotic wood species.

More often today it is even seen in a collection of exotic wood floors. Zebrawood floors can certainly add a unique feel to any home decorating project. Just make sure that you don't find it overwhelming, as you'll have it for life. Exotic wood floors are expensive and your not likely to change it like the paint on a wall.

It has a relatively small following of woodworkers that even knows it exists, but those that do and venture to use it, are awed by its dramatic colour banding.

The Tree: Leguminosae family (Microberlina, brazzavillensis) 


Zebrawood is distinctive for its zebra like light and dark stripes. The term, "zebrawood" is shared by several different woods with this particular appearance. The most common species available are from West Africa. They are an equatorial tree of medium to large size, gregarious, commonly growing in pure strands along riverbanks. Can grow to heights of 150 feet with trunk diameters of 4 to 5 feet. When cut it gives off an unpleasant aroma, which disappears as it dries. We kid around in the shop, that when planing this wood it smells like our sewer has backed up.

Wood Description: 


A heavy hard wood with a somewhat coarse texture, with the typical so-called zebra stripes, often with an interlocked or wavy grain. The heartwood is a pale golden yellow, distinct from the very pale colour of the sapwood and features narrow streaks of dark brown to black. Zebrawood can also be a pale brown with regular or irregular marks of dark brown in varying widths. It is almost always quartersawn to get the exciting alternating colour pattern and a straight grain. It is a true exotic wood, with limited availability and relatively high prices.

Weight: 36-45 pounds per cubic foot

Finishing: 


Difficult to finish because of the dual nature of the grain but finishes well once it's filled. The wood itself has a lustrous appearance.

Machining:


This wood is easy to saw but difficult to work with. Of all the woods I have handled, this rates as the worst to plane. It does not seem to matter which direction it is feed into a planer, it tears out badly in either direction. Experts recommend the use of a belt sander as the only feasible way to get a good smooth finish. If you receive it presanded, it is relatively easy to cut to size for all your woodworking projects. Can be glued if done with care.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download