Wood of the Week: Maple

When I was 5 years old, I moved from the western plains to New England. Trees were a new thing for me. I remember walking past yards in the early Spring & wondering why there were buckets hanging from the trees. The explanation was particularly absurd to me. They were "harvesting pancake syrup". It's hard for a child to accept the idea that syrup comes from trees and not from a magical talking woman shaped like a bottle. I've since shunned Mrs. Butterworth & now go for the real stuff.

The North American Sugar Maple (hard maple, rock maple) serves as mascot to the States of Vermont, New York, West Virginia, Wisconsin & the entire nation of Canada where its leaf flys proudly on flags and airplanes. The syrup derived from the maple sap is a fixture in the North American- flapjack, waffle, french toast-sweet breakfast. The wood harvested from the Maple tree is a staple of North American cabinetry & furniture making.

Maple is a hardwood. Grain patterns go from soft and straight to "birds eye", "fiddle back" and "curly" patterns. Maple wood is used for simple utilitarian things like butcher blocks and flooring because of its rugged durability. It is also used for high end furniture and instrument making because of its lush silky sheen. Everything from solid bowling pins to veneered harps utilize the strength and beauty of the wood. Maple has a mellow clean bouquet when being milled. It's an easy strong wood to use in joinery and woodturning. Maple wood is referred to as a tone wood because of its acoustic qualities, making it a favored wood among drum and guitar makers. On an early Spring morning, as the sap rushes up to make new leaves, you can almost hear the Maple tree sing as it works.

Wood of the Week: Cherry

George Washington's admission to chopping down his father's cherry tree was a pivotal moment in American history. "Honesty is the best policy" was the moral of the story told about the first American president when he was a child. An honest boy became a great man and the cherry tree became an American symbol of "The Truth".

The ideals of America live in cherry wood. The simplicity of the Colonial, Shaker, or Arts & Crafts furniture ,often utilizes the somber warmth and rich beauty of cherry. Joints and plugs are often left in full view as a testament to the honesty & integrity of the cabinetmaker and his creation.

American cherry wood (black cherry) is a domestic hardwood indigenous to North America. The heartwood can vary in color from a dark brown to a light reddish brown (occasionally with small dark streaks and flecks known as gum pockets).

Used for furniture, musical instruments & pipe making, as well as flooring & veneer-cherry's natural patina gets richer in color as it mellows in grain pattern. The sapwood is lighter in color and releases a sweet confectionary-perfumy fragrance while being milled. Imagine your Grandma baking a cherry pie after church on a Sunday afternoon-that's what cherry wood smells like.

While many breeds & varieties are celebrated worldwide for their delicate pink blossoms, fruit and wood-a special place for cherry exists in every American heart. Cherry wood is in our history-in our homes and in our ideals.

Wood of the Week: Purpleheart

Imagine yourself in a lush green jungle dripping with dew. Rainbow colored birds dart in and out of bright neon flowers. You're surrounded by screeching monkeys and choirs of chirping insects and psychedelic tied-dyed frogs. Bright yellow moss grows with sparkling multicolored mushrooms beneath an old fallen tree. The heart of this tree glistens like a precious purple gem in a sea of bright green coins. You've discovered the treasure of Purpleheart. You begin to weep.

Purpleheart
Also called Amaranth, Koroboreli & Saka-is native to Central and South America. It's color varies from light violet to deep purple and burgundy hues. It looks like wood that has been pickled in grape kool-aid.

Purpleheart's vivid color and straight grain make it a very desirable exotic hardwood that's used in wood turning, furniture and oddly enough boat building. The grain pattern and hardness make it feel like the long lost South American brother of walnut wood.

Purpleheart has a dark earthy dirt like smell when it's being milled. It is very brittle and chippy and can be very "squirrely" when ripping on a table saw. Squirrely describes wood that either begins to veer away or towards the straight kerf established by a circular saw blade- causing the cuts to be wavy-or the saw blade to buckle. I like to keep a few shims handy to avoid having this happen in the middle of a rip. I find that it sands very well & planes smooth when run across (as opposed to with) the grain.

Purpleheart is a wonderful accent wood that compliments other hardwoods in parquetry & combined laminations. A gorgeous, unbelievable, exotic gem.

Wood of the Week: Padauk

Each week I will feature a different wood and discuss its qualities.
One tip to knowing more about wood is to understand the distinction between a hardwood and softwood. Not all hardwoods are hard and not all softwoods are soft. Most simply, hardwoods are from trees with leaves and softwoods are from trees with needles.




Padauk (pronounced- padook),
also called Barwood and Camwood,
is a straight grained hardwood from regions in Africa and Asia.
The bright or deep red color is what it is best known for and why it is considered a "dyewood".
The saw dust can stain your clothes, leaving them pinkish. Padauk wood, while being milled emits a warm-hot chocolate-like aroma.
(Wikipedia claims that African women have used it as deodorant)
It's very easy to cut, sand and carve.
It stays straight and is not too chippy.
Paduak works well for interior trim and furniture-some have even used Padauk as flooring.
It finishes well with linseed oil and paste wax.
Padauk is a beautiful hardwood and is very very red.