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OAK
Coarse Grain. Classical English timber with strong
medullary rays giving characteristic wavy lines on
quarter-sawn surface. Can be stained however dark you
want. |
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CHERRY
Fine, even texture, often medium reddish-brown.
Increasingly popular timber for general carpentry and
cabinet making. |
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WALNUT
Features interesting colours and textures, often
chocolate brown colour, producing pleasing grain
patterns and beautiful shiny finish. Excellent choice of
material for most woodworking. |
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ASH
Usually paler in colour then shown here. Often similar
to beech in appearance, but more open grained. Can be
stained much darker if required, although grain pattern
usually plainer than Oak. |
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ELM
Gentle wavy grain, and often paler in colour then is
shown here. Ideal of you want to create a soft textural
effect |
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YEW
Superb colour and grain pattern with lots of tiny knots.
Because the grain is swirly, you may get localised areas
of roughness due to surface chipping, although overall,
the finish lustre is superb. |
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BEECH
Rather plain looking pale timber with small longitudinal
grain flecks and no swirly patterns, it is strong and
finishes well. |
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WENGE
Imported tropical hardwood from central Africa, it is a
lovely mix of black and tan stripes. Strong and heavy.
Concerns over sustainability. |
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SAPELE
Inexpensive and perhaps slightly bland modern mahogany
substitute, it is cheap and readily available. Medium
red-brown colour with no special grain effects. |
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PADAUK
Startlingly red-orange colour when freshly cut, although
darkening with exposure to light. Heavy African hardwood
without any distinguishing grain pattern. Excellent
lustre and colour. |
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MAPLE
Always popular with carpenters, it has similar
characteristics to Cherry, being easy to work and
finish, and generally palish in hue. Is famous for
special effects such as birds eye, figured, quilted and
rippled. |
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SPECIAL EFFECTS |
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LACEWOOD(S)
When cut at an angle, the grain of certain timbers
demonstrates a mottling effect as shown in this example
of London Plane. |
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BURRS
A Burr is a warty growth on the outside of a tree where
a branch has been lost many years before. The pips look
like tiny knots, and the grain pattern is rich and
randomly swirling. Can be expensive to source, but found
on many different types of tree. The example shown here
is from Amboyna |
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FIGURED WOODS
A combination of insect attack and lots of saplings
produced this heavy 'birds-eye' effect in Maple.
Different timbers can exhibit a wide range of pleasing
and unusual surface patterns. |
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DISEASED WOODS
The example shown is of spalted Maple due to fungal
attack producing dark wavy lines. |