Types of Wood

African Sumac -

Bass - Native to USA & Canada - It is fine, straight grain material with an even texture and little contrast between early and late wood. Creamy white in color and lighter in weight than the related European Lime. Easy to work, being very soft and light. Perhaps one of the most suitable wood species for hand carving. 

Ash- 

Aromatic Cedar - (Tennessee Cedar) -  Native to North America - It is a soft wood with aroma that is a natural repellent to moths and insects. Sapwood is white to cream and is intermixed and contrasts with the salmon to dark red of the heartwood. Expect tight, closed knots throughout the material. 

Cottonwood Bark - Native to USA & Canada - Black cottonwood grows in excess of 6 inches thick and is the very best for carving, in my opinion. If you are lucky enough to find cottonwood bark in the thickness needed to carve, by all means harvest yourself some. The bark used for carvings needs to come from dead trees. 

Laminate-. 

Leopardwood (Roupala montana) -Native to Central and South America - contains a very conspicuous flecking, which brings to mind this wood’s namesake. Wood ranges from medium to dark reddish-brown color with gray to light brown rays that resemble a leopard’s spots. Grain is straight with a fairly coarse texture. 

Bird's-eye Maple (Acer saccharum)  - Native to eastern North America - is so named because the figure resembles small bird's eyes. Bird's-eye figure is a phenomenon that occurs within several kinds of wood, most notably in hard maple. The figure is reportedly caused by unfavorable growing conditions for the tree. The sugar maple attempts to start numerous new buds to get more sunlight, but with poor growing conditions the new shoots are aborted, and afterward a number of tiny knots remain. Frequently sold in veneer form, but solid lumber is available as well. Being tiny knots, the bird's-eye figure is most noticeable and pronounced on flatsawn pieces of lumber.  

Oak - 

Olive Wood - Grows in many areas throughout Southern Europe, the Middle East and Eastern Africa. It is the tree that produces commercially grown olives for the fruit and also to make olive oil. The unique quality of this wood is that it is completely sustainable. 

Poplar & Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) - Native to North America - is a domestic species that is often planted as wind breaks. The heartwood is light cream to yellowish-brown with some occasional streaks of gray or green. "Rainbow" poplar has brighter colored streaks such as pink and purple. It has a straight, uniform grain, with a medium texture. 

Sapele (Entandrophragma cylindricum) - Native to Congo Basin in Africa - is a genuine substitute for Mahogany. It is widely used in Europe. Although a member of a different species, Sapele has a similar reddish-orange color as mahogany. When quartersawn, Sapele boards exhibit a uniform ribbon pattern that shimmers in the light. In flatsawn boards, this squirrelly grain makes for wild swirls and surfaces that shift color depending on how the light strikes. ­This beautiful pattern occurs because Sapele’s grain is “rowed” or interlocked, which can make planing and shaping tricky. 

Walnut (Juglans nigra) - Native to Canada and USA - heartwood can range from a lighter pale brown to a dark chocolate brown with darker brown streaks. Color can have a grey, purple, or reddish cast. Sapwood is nearly white. It has a medium texture, the grain is usually straight, but it can be irregular. Black walnut can occasionally also be found with figured grain patterns such as: curly, crotch, and burl. Typically easy to work provided the grain is straight and regular.  

Zebrawood (Microberlinia brazzavillensis) - Native to West Africa - has a light golden yellow heartwood with streaks of dark brown to black. The stripes can be chaotic and wavy (flatsawn), or somewhat uniform (quartersawn). Zebrawood has a medium to course texture, with a lustrous surface that works well with hand and machine tools and finishes well.