Woods and Their Properties

presented by Garrett Lambert

[Editor's Note: I have had this chart for several years. I have been unsuccessful in my attempts to locate the source in order to secure permission to reproduce it here, and, of course, to credit the original author whose personal comments are found throughout the text. If anyone knows or subsequently discovers the source, please inform me at [email protected]. Garrett Lambert]

Wood	Properties
Afrormosia	A firm, yellow-brown wood, darkens on exposure to air, sometimes used as substitute for Teak.
Apple	Like all fruitwoods, a hard, firm, finely textured, close grained wood with a slight reddish cast. Available in small pieces only.
White Ash	Like Oak in hardness, workability and figure, but has a more finely grained texture and a deeper luster; colors range from light cream to brown with clearly marked open grain. In my opinion, Ash takes a smoother finish, too; almost glows when scraped or sanded smooth. I prefer it as an alternative to White Oak. It cuts beautifully, precisely, with no burning; it planes and scrapes smoothly; takes nicely to fine sanding, too, and takes aniline dyes well; looks warm and soft/shiny under an orange shellac finish. Hard to carve, though.
Aspen	White to cream-grey with very fine, even texture. Easy to work.
Basswood [Linden]	Relatively soft, light, grainless wood ranging in color from creamy white to light brown. Similar in texture to Poplar; prized for easy carvability, since it cuts with a clean, smooth surface in all directions of grain. Use it as an alternative to Poplar.
Beech	Very tough, hard, even wood, tends to twist; pale pink with small silvery flecks
Birch	Attractive pale brown, close grained, nicely flecked surface. A hard wood, but still good to carve. Yellow Birch is highly recommended as a softer alternative to Maple for cabinetwork.
Bloodwood [Satine, Cardinal Wood]	Blood red color; hard and heavy; works well, and is preferred over Padauk since it has less tendency to lose its color with exposure to light. [Alternative: Padauk]
Bocote [Mexican Rosewood]	Contrasting black, green, yellow vibrant colors with tight wild figures. A very hard wood with considerable resin content.
Boxwood	Hard, yellow color, little evident grain; excellent for detail; sharp tools required; available in small pieces only.
Bubinga [African Rosewood]	Purplish pink to salmon red with dark veining. Fine textured, relatively hard and dense. I've seen some wonderful planks, rich grained, ribbony, beautiful flat surfaces. Looks like a wonderful, showy wood, and price isn't entirely out of reach.
Butternut	A hardwood, but very light, soft and easy to work. Known as White Walnut, it's actually a warm butterscotch with Walnut-like markings. Nice cabinet wood, priced like Oak/Cherry. A favorite of mine for carving and for box-size work. Has more defects than most wood.
Red Cedar	Cream/reddish color, rather brittle and soft but carves easily.
Yellow Cedar	Harder than Red Cedar, same properties.
Black Cherry	Medium hard, nice to work, interesting grain, takes a deep, beautiful finish; reddish brown mahogany color with golden brown luster; fine texture, strong, fairly durable; a favorite of cabinetmakers and carvers. Use it as an alternative to Mahogany. I've done Cherry boxes, case goods; the wood cuts easily and smoothly. It has some tendency to burn under machinery, but not nearly as bad as Maple or Oak. I find it very pleasant to work with, easy to work by hand, too.
Cocobolo [Rosewood]	Highly exotic species of Rosewood, brilliant orange, purple and yellow with distinctive lines of purple and black. Very hard and resinous, but turns excellently, polishes well and is one of the most durable woods around. It's expensive, but beautiful.
Douglas Fir	(see Columbia Pine)
Gaboon Ebony	Predominantly black and extremely fine textured, this preferred ebony is very hard and heavy. It is rare, valuable, and available in relatively small cuttings. Brittle nature makes it difficult to work, but it takes an excellent polish.
Indian Ebony	Black with irregular brown streaks, fine textured, extremely hard and strong, but quite brittle. Finishes to a bright, smooth surface.
Macassar Ebony	Figured with alternative dark black and grey brown stripes, fine textured, very dense, turns easily.
Elm	A broad attractive, twisty grain, with an olive brown color; Elm is a hard wood that works well, but is stringy and liable to warp; not good for carving. Elm burl veneer is interesting, but hard to work.
Hemlock	Light with strong markings, properties like Douglas Fir.
Hickory	Among the hardest of woods; similar to Ash in appearance, but harder; see also Pecan, a slightly softer species of Hickory more suited for cabinet work.
Holly	Very white with hard, close grain.
Iroko	Similar to Afrormosia but more golden, with less varied and less attractive, grain.
Jelutong	Unattractive yellowish wood, very even, cuts cleanly, used for pattern making.
Karri	Hard, red, even but coarse grain.
Kingwood [Rosewood]	A species of genuine Rosewood, brownish purple with fine stripes of black and luminous violet. Denser than other Rosewoods. Similar to Brazilian Rosewood in technical properties, but harder and stronger. Size of cuttings is limited, but Kingwood is said to work well and take a high natural polish.
Koa	Golden brown color with dark streaks and a lustrous sheen; occasionally develops a curly or flamed figure. Works easily, with a texture similar to walnut, but not quite as hard.
Lacewood [Australian Silky Oak]	Has a mahogany background coloration with a highly figured pattern similar to Quartersawn Oak; attractive figure, unusually consistent due to flaked grain and large, regular medullary rays.
Laurel	Greenish brown, excellent to carve; takes a beautiful polish.
Lignum Vitae	Among hardest of woods, very heavy, sapwood is yellow, heartwood is purple-brown, used for mallets, etc.
Lime	Creamy white, soft, even, clean cutting, much used for delicate carvery [like Pear); undistinguished grain and texture.
Honduras/Genuine Mahogany	Medium hard wood with mostly straight grain; generally works well; clean cutting, but tends to splinter if not carved with care; yellowish brown to pink/reddish brown color, a little redder than Cherry; but the color tends to darken on exposure to air. Honduras Mahoganies are preferred for their finer texture than African or Phillipine Mahogany, both of which also are softer. Generally all mahoganies are exceptionally stable and clear with a natural luster—best used for cabinetry where it is important to minimize dimensional changes—and take a beautiful finish. Excellent working, carving, finishing properties. Experience tells me the wood works easily, cleanly under machine or hand tools; sands and shapes beautifully; becomes nicely striated under linseed oil, though it does darken over time. A very nice wood to work with.
Sapele [African Mahogany]	Attractive African redwood; rather curly grain; softer than genuine Mahogany. Better in veneer than in solid form because of its ribbon grain. I used figured Sapele veneer on a small box; it has a nice, open grain; it sanded fairly smooth, but it is starting to splinter at the edges under hard use.
Phillipine Mahogany	Softer, with a coarser texture than Honduras Mahogany, but otherwise has all the same pleasant properties.
Jarrah [Australian Mahogany]	Dark red wood, coarse but even grained.
Hard Maple	A very hard, strong, close-grained, dense wood that is usually difficult to work because it burns easily, dulls tools, pocks when planed, etc. It is also very durable; holds smooth, crisp machine cut edges; has a tight, relatively plain grain and a firm texture, and takes a nice finish. Color generally ranges from light cream to reddish brown; reasonably priced. I like Maple. I've made two 12" Jorgenson-style clamps, a walnut/maple cutting board, a utility table with it. Yes, it pocks and chips, but it also planes beautifully, cuts cleanly, sands nicely, and isn't that much harder to work with machine tools or, with some effort, with hand chisels than White Oak or Pecan.
Birdseye Maple	Same as Hard Maple except for the distinctive birdseye figuring. My birdseye samples haven't been too figured, but it works nicely and a tung oil finish does bring out the eyes somewhat. Someday, will try a ferrous sulphate wash to see if it brings out the eyes more. Constantine's has some spectacular veneers.
Curly Maple	Curly, Flamed, Tiger Striped, Fiddleback, Soft Maple all refer to the alternating hard and soft rippling which runs against the grain in some Soft Maple trees. Easier to work than Hard Maple, same light maple color and tight grain. Some fuzziness that requires wetting during finish sanding to chop back the rising grain.
Wormy Maple	A Soft Maple that has been attacked by wood worms. Actual holes are relatively small, but black-rimmed and very visible. Interesting feature is the gray/brown streaky discoloration along the worm tracks; depending on the cut angle, it can produce fantastic flame-like patterns or spectacular slashing marks on the wood. Unaffected wood remains maple-white. Coloration on a dresser I made faded over time, but more due to my choice of dye, I think, than to the persistence of the color. I'm not sure.
Morado [Bolivian or Santos Rosewood]	Ranges in color from light violet brown to reddish brown with black streaks; finer in texture than most rosewoods, a close substitute for East Indian Rosewood; works easily and polishes well. I got some 1⁄8" from Woodworker's Dream. Nice wood, beautiful figure.
Muhuhu	Heavy, dense, red-brown wood with strong attractive grain, tough and hard but beautiful.
Chestnut Oak	Basic grain texture of Red Oak, but tan to gray-brown color, nearly as dark as Chestnut
Red Oak	Light brown with a reddish tinge and coarse, open-pored texture. Needs strong, simple, broad treatment. A classic furniture wood requiring broad treatment. I've found that it tends to splinter under router bits, other machinery, unless I've very recently sharpened bits, blades, edges, etc.
English Brown Oak	Beautiful light tan to deep brown with coarse grain and noticeable figure; a rarer species of Oak prized by cabinetmakers for workability, strength, durability and beauty. I've played only with veneer, but it's beautiful.
White Oak	Colors range from beige to creamy tan to brown with a pronounced, but finer textured open grain than Red Oak. Harder to work and less stable than Red Oak, so use machine tools. Takes a nice oil finish. White Oak is somewhat waterproof, but it also moves a lot winter-to-summer, so don't use it where dimensional changes may affect the piece. I've used it—more than any other hardwood—for an Oak desk, which fell apart due to bad joinery and wood movement; a spice rack, which is doing fine; a baby changing table, which is okay; a heart-shaped, carved box and a CD cabinet. I like the way it looks, don't like the way it works: seems to tug and resist saw blades, seems to chip a lot under planes and router bits; I especially don't want to do major hand chiseling or hand carving ever again! I prefer Cherry/Walnut or if I want a light color, White Ash or Maple, which are about the same price or cheaper.
Padauk [Vermillion]	Unusually deep, brilliant reddish orange color with moderately coarse texture; very durable, easy to work, takes an excellent finish with deep tonal properties, but tends to lose its brilliance with exposure to light [Alt: Bloodwood]. Saw a plank that had been exposed to light at Interstate Lumber; losing the red color wasn't a problem—it had turned a glorious, rich, dark brown with nice black undertones. I loved it. Didn't buy it. Foolish!
Pear	Hard, even, fine grained, pinky brown wood used for fine carving and wood engraving; cheesy texture, very little grain; excellent finish.
Pecan	Actually a species of Hickory, but somewhat softer. Has a nice tan-to-orange brown color with simple, darker subdued figure. I got 20 board feet from Steve Wall; it did some splitting in the basement. I used it for a coffee table. It works a lot like White Oak—a hard wood, difficult to chisel, tough on tools; some chipping and even lifting of long strips when planed against the grain; some washboard patterns of alternating hard and soft grain that are difficult to work. Still, it shows a beautiful, smooth shimmer on correctly planed/cut surfaces and the fluted apron on the table has stood up magnificently to a decade of teenage abuse.
Columbia Pine [Doulas Fir]	A firm Pine with attractive markings; demands simple treatments.
Pitch Pine	Densest of Pines; attractive markings.
White Pine	Soft Pine, sometimes knotty. A soft wood that does not stand up to abuse, and absorbs stain/finish unevenly, producing a blotchy result. Still, very easy to cut; also very difficult to maintain sharp edges and contours. Mortise/tenon joinery is necessary, but the soft wood around a mortise splits under any kind of pressure. Use Poplar instead.
Yellow Pine	Light, pale Pine that carves easily with sharp tools; much used in past for ship figureheads, ornate picture frames.
Plum	Younger wood is pinkish; older wood is violet brown; sapwood is yellowish.
Poplar	Soft, whitish wood with an occasional green tint, some tan/brown figure; harder, more stable, preferred over Pine. I find it cuts and routs easily though it has some tendency to burn; I don't like its fuzziness, even after sanding, or the way it stains and takes oil—a little blotchy. But it's still far nicer than Pine; at the price, however, why not use Maple?
Brazilian Rosewood [Jacaranda]	A preferred species of genuine Rosewood that ranges in color from dark brown to violet with spidery black streaks. Smells like roses when freshly cut. Species is nearly extinct and extremely expensive. It turns excellently, polishes well and is very durable. I've never tried it and probably won't ever get the chance.
Satinwood	I have some beautifully mottled veneer. It's hard to work cleanly but it is a strikingly rippled wood with a stunning 3D effect. I used it on two jewelry boxes with good results—both contrasty designs, Walnut/Satinwood and black-dyed-Ash/Satinwood.
Sycamore	Like Maple—hard, clean, whitish with open and wavy distinct grain; hard to carve but finishes beautifully.
Teak	Wonderful grain, oily, waterproof, but dulls tools very quickly; must be machined using carbide cutters; yellow brown with dark streaks, pink and green zones and white flecks, sometimes grey.
Utile [African Mahogany]	Another African Mahogany, darker than Sapele with firmer, more attractive grain.
Walnut	Medium hard, nice to work, interesting grain, purplish brown in color, slightly oily; a hard, strong, durable wood that takes a deep, beautiful finish. Said to be hard to carve because of its cheesy texture, but I find it a good carving wood and one of my favorites for cabinet making. Experience tells me it's harder than Cherry or Mahogany, but it still cuts nicely, especially with machine tools, and sands to a beautiful smoothness. It also behaves wonderfully under hand tools; I especially like the way it mortises under hand chisels and takes a cut from a sharp plane or carving gouge. The Walnut veneer from Constantine's is also nice; it splits fairly easily, and there are odd feathery areas that never sand smooth, but it looks terrific once applied, and it finishes beautifully. I've used it on showpiece projects and with Oak/Ash to good effect.
Yew	Close grained, hard, reddish brown heartwood.
Ziricote [Mexican Ebony]	Brown/gray background with black line figure. Hard, fine texture. I have some 1⁄8" from Woodworker's Dream, including some particularly beautiful quartersawn with stunning fine black stripes that I'm saving for something special.