Wood

Scientific Name: Quercus rubra Other Common Names: Northern Red Oak Growing Regions: Canada and the United States. Size Characteristics: Grows to 70 feet tall, with a trunk up to 39 inches in [...]

Scientific Name: Acer rubrum Other Common Names: Carolina red maple, Drummond red maple, Red maple, Scarlet maple, Swamp maple, Water maple. This wood is often found in the same bin as Silver [...]

Normally we cover solid wood in the Wood Encylopedia, but we thought it might be useful to discuss a versatile material for everything from jigs to drawer parts and scroll saw projects. What is [...]

Scientific Name: Juglans nigra Other Common Names: Black walnut, American walnut, American black walnut. Growing Regions: Throughout the eastern United States and Canada. Characteristics of Tree: [...]

Scientific Name: Quercus macrocarpa Other Common Names: Blue oak, Cucharillo, Encino, Mamecillo, Mossy overcup oak, Roble, Scrub oak Growing Regions: Throughout North America. According to Woods [...]

Scientific Name: Peltogyne venosa Other Common Names: Amaranth, Guarabu, Nazareno, Palo morado, Pau roxo, Purperhart, Saka, Tananeo, Violetwood Growing Regions: Purpleheart grows in Central and [...]

Tree Anatomy In woodworking, we’re generally concerned about the sapwood, heartwood, and annular rings (which is what we see as “grain pattern”). The slower a tree grew, the tighter the annular [...]

Scientific Name: Fraxinus americana Other Common Names: Canadian Ash and American White Ash Growing Regions: Canada and United States Characteristics of Tree: A small- to medium-sized tree, about [...]

Scientific Name: Quercus Alba Other Common Names: Swamp Chestnut, Chestnut Oak, Overcup Oak. Growing Regions: USA, Canada and Mexico. Characteristics of Tree: A moderate- ly sized tree, it can [...]

Scientific Name: Swietenia macrophylla Other Common Names: Honduras mahogany, Belize mahogany, Bigleaf mahogany, Mara, Acajou, Caoba. Growing Regions: Mahogany is found in Central and Latin [...]

Scientific Name: Prunus serotina Other common names: Black cherry, cabinet cherry Growing regions: The Eastern half of the United States, plus Arizona and New Mexico; and Mexico and Canada Tree [...]

A guide for woodworkers, makers, and designers. Last June I was invited to give the keynote presentation on reclaimed wood during the 2021 World Wood Day Symposium. Because of the disruption [...]