There’s been a problem.
I’m temporarily out of woodworking projects I’ve done. I’m working away on a super cool one that should be done in time for the next post, but I decided to take this one to discuss one of my favorite aspects of woodworking: all the different kinds of wood there are.
Not all trees are created equal, you see. Some kinds of wood that are perfect for one project are utterly useless for another, and they can have a major impact on the quality of your finished project. One of the most important aspects of this is hardness, which also corresponds directly to weight. At the bottom end of the hardness scale is balsa. You can dent it with your finger, but it’s also exceptionally light, making it useful for models. Slightly harder is basswood, the main component of guitars. Then comes walnut for cabinetry and carvings, and pine for construction. From there, the scale continues through the hardwoods, used in high-impact applications. Oak is used for wine barrels, maple for gun stocks, ash for baseball bats, and elm for hockey sticks, and osage orange for bows. The native hardwoods top out with hickory, but there are some tropical woods so dense that they sink in water.
Another important point to consider is wood color. Wood comes in every color of the rainbow, and the more unusual ones are almost always more expensive. This includes things like the famous Pink Ivory, purpleheart, and rosewood. The problem is that most of these woods darken to brown or black over time from UV exposure. Things like walnut and cherry hold their color better; and besides, I much prefer working with native woods anyway.
Lastly, many kinds of wood are notable for some other special property that makes it suited for a specific application. Locust is used for fenceposts because it never rots. Willow is very flexible, so it is commonly woven into baskets. Cedar is used for storage chests because it naturally repels moths. Fruitwoods like peach and apple actually smell like the fruit while they’re being worked. Wisteria is a vine that wraps around other trees, so my dad made me an incredible snake walking stick from it. There are so many more, and that’s part of what makes woodworking so interesting to me. There are as many projects as trees, and the process of shaping an old log into a piece of art is a special kind of magic.
Most of this post was sourced from wood-database.com.