Here is a guide to the wide variety of woods that are used to make the wonderful pieces in our collection. Offering a little bit of insight as to where the woods originate, their variants and other interesting points of information.
This section of the website will constantly evolve with new stock that comes in so check back for updates!
Amboyna, also known as Andaman Padauk, Maiou or Narra grows in parts of East Asia (Malaysia, the Philippines and Borneo) and is often golden brown to red brown in colour with red grain. It is a firm wood with wavy and often interlocking grain making it difficult to work with hand tools, despite this it turns well and produces a high polish. The Burr from these trees varies in colour from a golden yellow to a deep red with sharp,...
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Ash, also known as White Ash, grows in Europe and North America. It is cream-yellow in colour with subtle grain patterns which can have a ripple effect. Ash Burr is rare to be clean and often shows marks from ingrown bark and knots. Often as Olive trees mature they can develop a darker yellow-brown colour.
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Birch grows in parts of Northern Europe, Asia and North America. It is an almost white wood that with age will appear more yellow, with a very subtle grain giving a clean look to the wood.
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This is not a distinct species of maple. It is a growth variant of hard maple wood. Found in Northeastern America. The name derives from the appearance of tiny knots in the grain which resemble small bird's eyes. This unique appearance is formed when the tree starts to grow new shoots in poor growing conditions and they are aborted leaving behind tiny knots.
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Blackthorn, or Sloe, is found in Western Asia, Europe and Northwest Africa. It is given its name due to its savage thorns which have been used for making hedge rows “cattle-proof”. Blackthorn wood is a chocolate-brown colour with hints of red and will take a high polish.
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Boxwood "Buxus sempervirens" can be found in Europe, Northwest Africa and Southwest Asia. It is a light cream that turns darker to brown when exposed to light. The trees are very small meaning it is suited to smaller projects like edging or inlay instead of veneers.
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Calamander or Coromandel is a valuable wood found in India, Sri Lanka and South East Asia. It has a contrasting hazel-brown colour with black grain. It is a dense, heavy wood that is so popular it has been logged to extinction over the last few hundred years. This makes Calamander pieces even more special.
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Cedar wood has many variations. Cedar, also known as Lebanon Cedar, True Cedar can be found in Asia, Europe and North Africa. Cedar trees are long lived and often offer a poor quality, knotty wood. Logs used for veneer are carefully chosen to make sure they have a clean, straight grain. African Cedar, or Bosse, found in West Africa is a pink-brown colour when fresh, turning into a dark almost mahogany colour with age. Brazilian Cedar found in South America...
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Coromandel or Calamander is a valuable wood found in India, Sri Lanka and South East Asia. It has a contrasting hazel-brown colour with black grain. It is a dense, heavy wood that is so popular it has been logged to extinction over the last few hundred years. This makes Calamander pieces even more special.
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European Elm, also known as, English Elm, Common Elm, Dutch Elm or Wych Elm. It can be found in the United Kingdom and mainland Europe. European Elm can still be found although it is rare due to “Dutch Elm Disease” which is supposed to have killed around Twenty million Elm trees in the 1970’s. It can be yellow-brown to pink-brown in colour and has a very distinct smell. Elm Burr can be pink-brown to dark brown in colour depending on...
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Harewood is the name given to a type of sycamore maple which has been stained and treated to take the natural cream colour to a rich brown. It has a curled or “fiddleback” figure. Fiddleback is the name given to grain with tight curls, which derives from being popular to use on the back of stringed instruments.
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Kingwood, also known as Violetwood, is found in South America and is violet-brown in colour with a darker grain. It is a very dense and hard wood that is only available for smaller items due to the small tree that yields it.
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Lignum Vitae, also known as Guayacan or Guaiacum, is found in the West Indies and Tropical America. “Lignum Vitae” is Latin for “tree of life” which gets its name for its many medicinal uses. It is a strong, dense and very durable wood that is a dark brown with almost black streaks.
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Macassar Ebony is found in Southeast Asia and has a dramatic striped appearance that is similar to Calamander with a relatively straight grain. It's a very dense wood that is hard to work. The trees are slow growing and only grow in particular habitats, making this a rare and therefore sought after wood. It gets its name from the Indonesian Port of Makassar, where it is exported.
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Mahogany is the name given to many types of tropical hardwood and can be found in Africa, India and South America, most of which are a red-brown colour with a fine, even grain. This makes it easily workable and gives it a durable finish which attributes to its popularity with many kinds of furniture.
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Masur Birch is a grain figure most commonly seen in Silver Birch. It is often known as Karelian Birch named after the Karelia Region between Finland and Russia where this particular grain figure is farmed. Its appearance is very similar to birdseye maple. A pale slightly pinkish tone with dark flecks caused by a growth defect that causes small pieces of bark from the outside of the tree being grown over.
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Oak has many global variations. European Oak, also known as English or French Oak, is found in Europe. It is a well known and very popular wood due to its different types and strength yielding many uses. It can have a very simple clean look or a highly figured finish varying from tree to tree. European Oak can be Golden-yellow to light-brown in colour. Brown Oak is from the United Kingdom and its name is derived from its red-brown colour...
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Olivewood, also known as Real Olive or Mediterranean Olive. Olive trees are slow growing tree and are better known for the olives and oils which the produce. Olivewood is a yellow-cream colour with almost random dark brown veining.
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Padauk (pronounced Pah-duke) can be found in central and west Africa. Its is a unique reddish orange colour with a subtle grain, but over time it will always darken to a deep reddish brown. It's an easy wood to work which finishes well. This combined with its interesting colours makes it a popular hardwood.
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Palm wood or Coconut Timber is a hardwood found in Asia. Its appearance is similar to mahogany but with a more fibrous grain. Palm can range from a golden colour to near ebony tones. The trees have no annual growth rings or branches, which means it is free from knots and other common imperfections.
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Partridge Wood, sometimes called Cabbage wood, is found in South America. It can come in a variety of colours ranging from red-brown, brown to almost black. Partridge wood is similar to rosewood in density and grain tightness. It's a slightly rarer wood due to difficulty of finishing it cleanly.
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Pollard Oak is wood from trees that have been "pollarded". This is the process pruning the top branches of a tree to promote denser regrowth of branches and foliage. This helps the tree live longer and prevent damage from the wind or excess weight at the top of the tree. The word "Pollard" comes from the word "Poll" which means the top of the head, and eventually "to poll" which means "to crop the hair". A "Pollard" meant something that...
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Rosewood has many variations. Indian Rosewood, also known as Bombay Rosewood or Bombay Blackwood, is found in India and Indonesia. It is highly valued for its striking appearance with colours ranging from a medium-brown to dark red-brown with even darker grain lines. Madagascan Rosewood, found in Madagascar is a pink-brown colour with a darker almost purple grain. It is one of the least used Rosewoods due to limited resources and carefully controlled cultivation. As with other, rarer wood types this...
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Satinwood is found in India and Sri Lanka. It has a rich golden colour and an almost reflective sheen. Satinwood is traditionally used for high quality furniture.
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Sycamore, also known as Harewood is a member of the Maple family, found in Europe. It is light yellow in colour and is often a very clean wood, with a straight, fine grain. The wood is often pippy. However, these pips are usually a very similar colour to the rest of the wood making them hardly visible.
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Thuya grows in North West Africa. It is a soft wood which grows in a sporadic, twisted manner. The sought after part is the burr which grows underground as a root burr. It is red-brown in colour with a fine detailed grain and will take a high polish finish.
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Tulipwood is also known as Brazilian Tulipwood, Brazilian Pinkwood and Bahia Rosewood. It is found in South America, mainly Brazil. The colour is warm yellow with streaks or brown-red grain.
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Walnut comes in many varieties from America to Europe. American Walnut is often a warm yellow-brown to purple-brown colour with a straight grain. European Walnut tends to vary greatly from tree to tree in terms of colour and pattern. From light grey-brown to dark brown with dark grain and irregular markings. Walnut trees often develop large burr growths which when veneered show beautiful rich coloured swirls.
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Yew, or Yewtree, originates from Asia, Europe and North Africa. It is yellow-brown to orange-brown and usually conforms to a fine uniform pattern. Yew wood usually has black pips scattered throughout so clean veneers fetch a high price and are reserved for finer items. A few trees will produce a burr which offers a distinct decorative finish.
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