Favourite / Least Favourite Native & Imported Woods

[Dr.Al]

I've been preparing a plank of my current least favourite native wood & have been reminding myself why it takes that crown. That got me thinking about different woods & piqued my curiosity, so...

Question: If you had to pick one native wood & one imported wood to use for everything, which would you choose (and why)? Similarly, if there was one native wood & one imported wood you'd be happy if you never used again, which would you pick (and why)?

I suspect the answers to these questions change over time, but at the moment I'd pick:

Favourites:

Native: Probably Sweet Chestnut - not too hard, not too soft, lovely to plane & chisel. Also cheap!

Imported: American Black Walnut - lovely to plane & chisel & smells heavenly.

The reason I said "probably" on Sweet Chestnut was that it was a toss-up between that and Sycamore (which isn't strictly native but close enough) but I think Chestnut is the winner for me.

Least Favourites:

Native: Ash - grain direction seems to change regularly along the length so it's a pain in the backside to plane smooth.

Imported: Padauk - grain direction changing every centimetre across the width so it's even more of a pain to plane.

From his recent thread, I'm guessing that @Woodbloke is going to choose Bubinga for the last entry, but perhaps I'll be wrong...

 

[Andy Kev.]

That's an interesting question. I recently made a new top for a garden table out of chestnut (don't know it if counted as sweet or not) and it was terribly prone to fracturing - I can think of no better term for it - in line with the grain. This meant I lost an estimated 10%+ of the wood. So I won't be using that again, unless I think it absolutely necessary.

I haven't come across an imported wood that I dislike although I do have a couple of pieces of rough zebrano that I have yet to plane. I don't know if it will be easy or difficult.

So favourites; Native Walnut and American Black Cherry.

Least favourites: Chestnut and I haven't really come across an imported one yet that I actively dislike. Some tulip wood can be frustrating if it doesn't want to be planed straight but I've never encountered enough of that for it to be decisive. Altogether, I think I've only used four imported woods: American Walnut, American Black Cherry, Tulip Wood, Mahogany.

 

[Mike G]

How far down the food chain do you want to go, Al? I mean, rubber wood, or eucalyptus, or some of the stuff from foreign pallets.......? No-one makes anything much with them, but they'd be far worse than bubinga or padauk to work with.

My favourite imported wood would be teak.

 

[AndyP]

That might depend on what I’m making.
Favourites:-
Nothing beats oak for tables and benches (for sitting on] but for smaller turned items yew has to be up there as a favourite too.
American black walnut I’ve used for toys and games and is also excellent.

Worst woods is harder as I have little or no experience with imported exotics.

 

[Doug]

Iroko is my least favourite imported timber to use, I don’t like the smell & the dust from it is vile, I’d rather turn down a job than use it.
Most favourite is Indian Rosewood closely followed by Lignum Vitae but there are so many beautiful tropical hardwoods.

Least favourite native wood is Oak simply because I tire of being asked to use it, it’s so nice to use something different.
Most favourite native wood thats difficult as I love Ash especially Olive Ash but also really like Sycamore, hornbeam & Holly.

 

[Malc2098]

Hmmm. Native, I'm going with Sycamore. The grain on the instruments I've made is stunning, and I do my best to show it off in my work.

Second, although I've not used it yet, but I do have a small stock, is London Plane from London and Hertfordshire. I'm looking forward to seeing how that turns out.

Non native; I did find Purpleheart difficult to work, but perseverance paid off.

 

[Woodbloke]

This short clip from Rob Cosman is interesting, detailing ten of his least favourite woods:

Hmmm. Native, I'm going with Sycamore. The grain on the instruments I've made is stunning, and I do my best to show it off in my work.

Second, although I've not used it yet, but I do have a small stock, is London Plane from London and Hertfordshire. I'm looking forward to seeing how that turns out.

Non native; I did find Purpleheart difficult to work, but perseverance paid off.

You may well be very disappointed with London Pane; it's soft and 'wooly' (for want of a better word). I thought it might be good stuff but I've ditched all my small bits of London Plane, apart from a large chunk of quarter sawn (830x140x43mm) stuff that you're welcome to if you fancy a drive to Salisbury - Rob

Edit - Most favourite could be Cocobolo as I have several thick chunks and one large board of the stuff. However as it's 69lbs/cu', is very difficult to glue and very oily, I will no doubt change my mind very rapidly once I start to use it...and no @Malc2098 they're not a freebie.

 

[Malc2098]

This short clip from Rob Cosman is interesting, detailing ten of his least favourite woods:

You may well be very disappointed with London Pane; it's soft and 'wooly' (for want of a better word). I thought it might be good stuff but I've ditched all my small bits of London Plane, apart from a large chunk of quarter sawn (830x140x43mm) stuff that you're welcome to if you fancy a drive to Salisbury - Rob

Thank you, Rob. I might just take you up on that.

 

[Woodbloke]

Thank you, Rob. I might just take you up on that.

You're more than welcome Malc - Rob

 

[SteveMP]

Great question!

Favorite native wood: black walnut. Easy to work with hand tools and i also love the smell. But has gotten really expensive here even though it is native due to its popularity in China

Favorite imported: mahogany, although the prices and quality vary dramatically. I think the African type is a good quality to cost where i live. Works well with hand tools and finishes beautifully.


Least favorite native: white pine. Too soft for most uses. Can dig your finger nail in and leave a deep scratch. It tends to have a lot of tension so when you cut it twists and warps. And even though it is soft, when you chisel it, it kind of “crumbles”.

Least favorite import: wenge. Got a splinter once and thought i was gonna have to rush to the hospital.


Notable other species of various rapport:

African bloodwood, super brittle, things just snap off when least expected.

Cocobolo, i like for turning but can be a beast to work with hand tools.

Bocote: turned this once into a wine stopper and my forearms started itching unbearably for hours.

 

[duke]

Favourite native wood is Cherry and Maple. Don't have a least favourite and no experience with exotic wood.