Ash

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.

Birdseye Maple

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.

Boxwood

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.

Burr Yew

English Yew Burr wood or Burl in the US is the rarest and most sought after. 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. This wood is ancient and takes hundreds of years to grow. It is extremely rare in larger sizes and is...

Cedar

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...

Coromandel

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.

Ebony

Ebony is often almost completely black with very little visible grain often with a subtle red/purple hue. This wood is very expensive due to the slow-growing trees which can often be gnarly affecting the yield of straight workable wood. Most ebonies are very dense making work with hand tools very difficult and can quickly clunt cutting tools. This density however offers an excellent finish on turned items.

Frame

Harewood

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.

Kingwood

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.

Lacewood

Planetree or London Plane is found across Europe. Planetree is a creamy yellow colour with a light brown grain. When the log is quarter sliced the veneer is known as Lacewood and is pink-brown in colour. Planetree Burr is a darker brown with very small almost indistinct pips giving it a velvet finish.

Lime

Mahogany

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.

Masur Birch

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.

Oak

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...

Padauk

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.

Palmwood

Pear

Pine

"Pine" can be quite a catch-all term for what is a very wide variety of woods from the Pinus Genus. They range from strong hardwoods to soft easily workable woods. Pine comes from conifer trees which are found in the Northern Hemisphere. It is a light creamy yellow colour with a brown colour heartwood and has a nice natural finish that doesn't take dye and stains so well.

Pollard Oak

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...

Sandalwood

Sandalwood belongs to the genus Santalum group of trees. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained. Unlike many other aromatic woods they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood is often cited as one of the most expensive woods in the world and is sought after for its easy ability to carving.

Silver

Thuya

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.

Tuilpwood

Walnut

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.