Woods we love and how we use them!

Wood reflects natural variety of the cosmos!  The grain patterns, textures, and colors vie with beautiful vistas of landscapes, cloudscapes, sunrises and sunsets as reflections of nature's beauty. We feel fortunate and grateful that we have chosen wood as our medium.  Not all woods are appropriate for all uses.  Phil & I make a variety of things, and choose from our palette of species with care when making an item from wood. We have included here the common name, the scientific name, and very general ways we use the various woods. 

This page is a work in progress, but full of sample pictures of woods in our workshop.  Every piece of wood is unique, so the pictures are "Examples" and representative of the woods we use.  If you don't see a sample picture here of a wood species you are interested in - email us, and we will look into the nooks and crannies and see if we have a piece...  You never know!

Please remember that every piece of wood is different. We try to show representative samples of wood, but there are always color and grain differences! 

EXOTIC WOODS, Asian and AFRICAN 

1macassar
                              
MACASSAR EBONY WOOD
(Diospyros marmorata)
Andaman Islands
hair accessories, specialty kitchen,
carvings,  boxes, inlay
 
       
 
 2pinkivory     
PINK IVORY (Berchemia zeyheri)
South Africa
hair accessories,  inlay
 
                                  
1wenge1_horiz
 

WENGE (Millentia laurentil)
West Africa
hair accessories, furniture, boxes, inlay
 
 
2bubinga 
BUBINGA  (Guibourtia demeusei)
Camaroon
hair accessories, furniture, boxes, inlay
 
ebony_gabon 
Gaboon (Gabon) Ebony (Diospyrus spp.)
Gaboon, Southern Nigeria, Cameroon, and Zaire
 
hair sticks, inlay, carvings 
 
 
1zebrawood 
  ZEBRAWOOD (Microberlinia brazzavillenis) 
                                   West Africa                              
        hair accessories, furniture, boxes, inlay
 
         1padauk
 
PADOUK (Pterocarpus soyauxii)
Camaroon
hair accessories, furniture,  boxes, inlay
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

                       

 
EXOTIC WOODS, TROPICAL CENTRAL, NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA
 
 
 
 2bocote1 
BOCOTE (CORDIA) (Cordia elaeagnoides)
Mexico
hair accessories, furniture, carvings, boxes
 

          chaktevigas

                           Chakte Viga

 
 
 1yellowheart
PAU AMERALLO (YELLOWHEART) (Euxiioophora paraensis huber)
Brazil, S. America
hair accessories, specialty kitchen,  boxes, inlay
 
 
2bloodwood_sm
CARDINAL WOOD (BLOODWOOD) (Brosimum paraense)
Tropical America
hair accessories, specialty kitchen,  boxes, inlay
 
1purpleheart.peltogyne.purp 

PURPLE HEART (Peltogyne spp.)
Central and South America
hair accessories, specialty kitchen,  boxes, inlay

 
 
 

 

GONCALO ALVES (Astronium fraxinfolium)
S. America - Brazil
hair accessories,  boxes, inlay
 
 

 1mahogany-copy

MAHOGANY, HONDURAN (Swistenia macrophylla)
Tropical Americas (N & S)
hair accessories, kitchenware, bowls, furniture, boxes, inlay
 
1Tulipwood4 

TULIP WOOD (Dalbergia frutesscene)
Brazil
hair accessories, specialty kitchen, boxes, inlay

 
 

 
2bolivianrosewood.machaeriu 
Marado_th 

BOLIVIAN ROSEWOOD (MORADO, MORADILLO)
(Dalberia nigra) 
hair accessories, kitchen specialties,
 furniture, carvings, boxes
 
 
 
2ziricote 
ZIRICOTE (Cordia dodecandra)
Mexico
hair accessories,  carvings,  boxes, inlay

 
 canarywood.centrolobium ochroxylon 
Canarywood (Centrolobium spp.)
Central and South America
hair accessories, boxes, inlay, specialty kitchen, furniture, bowls
cocobolo.dalbergia.retusa 
Cocobolo (Dalbergia retusa)
 Central America from Panama to Mexico
 hair accessories, inlay, jewelry, boxes, specialty kitchen
 

 chechen
Chechen
 
 
 kingwood 
Brazilian Kingwood (Dalbergia cearensis) 
hair accessories, specialty kitchen, boxes, inlay, carvings
 

 
 
 

DOMESTIC WOODS (NORTH AMERICAN)

 

 cherrywood1
CHERRY WOOD (Prunus serotina )
Eastern Forests,
North America - Appalachians
kitchen ware, hair accessories,
furniture, boxes

 
 

  CURLY SWAMP MAPLE
(Acer macrophyllum)
North America
hair barrettes, kitchen ware, bowls,
carvings,  boxes, inlay
 1sycamore
SYCAMORE (Acer pseudopiatanus)
Eastern Forests, N. America,
UK, Europe
bowls, kitchenware,  boxes

 
 2blackwalnut
Black Walnut (Jugians  nigra) 
Eastern Forests, N. America
 furniture, boxes, bowls, kitchenware, cutting boards,
 rockmaple1 1soft_maple
 
MAPLE (Acer macrophyllum)
North America
hair accessories, kitchen ware,
carvings, bowls, boxes, furniture
 ambrosiamaple

 ambrosia_maple5
 
AMBROSIA, FLAG MAPLE
(Acer macrophyllum)
North America
 kitchen ware, carvings,
owls, boxes, furniture
 boisdarc

  Osage Orange, Bodark,
Bois d'Arc, Horse Apple 
 (Maclura pomifera)
dogwood 
Dogwood (Cornus florida)
Eastern Forests N. America 
hair accessories, jewelry,
spoons and utensils,
carving, inlay work.
 

 
 apple
Apple Wood