Wood Choices
We can build your furniture in a number of different woods. The woods shown below are the most common ones we use. If you'd like your furniture built in a different wood please call or email for information about pricing and availability. Please use the photos below for comparison purposes only. The actual color of a wood species will vary from board to board. Grain and color characteristics are matched as closely as possible when a piece of furniture is built.
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Cherry Cherry darkens rapidly with exposure to sunlight. When you first receive a new piece of cherry furniture it will be fairly light in color. Over the period of 6 to 12 months it will darken considerably. After this initial period of rapid darkening the color stabilizes. Pieces bought at different times will eventually reach the same color. The photo to the left shows a newly made table on top of an older table. Cherry is by far the most popular wood for my furniture so most of the furniture on my website is shown in cherry.
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 Maple |
Maple Maple is a very light colored, very hard, closed grained wood that finishes to an incredibly silky smooth feel. It is the wood that bowling alleys are made from because of its hardness. |
 Curly or tiger maple |
Curly Maple Curly maple is maple that has a grain pattern that makes it look like it has curls or waves in it. When the curls are particularly pronounced (like in the sample to the left) it is called tiger maple. This is a spectacular wood but I feel it should be used sparingly as it can be overpowering if a large piece is entirely made of curly maple. The photo below shows a cabinet made in cherry with tiger maple door panels. Also shown is a stool in curly maple with an amber dyed finish. |
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Red Oak Because of the heavy look of its grain I fell red oak is best suited for mission stlye pieces. I don't think the more delicate details of my shaker pieces look good in oak. Oak also has an open grain that does not finish as smoothly as closed grained wood like cherry or maple.
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 Walnut |
Walnut Walnut is a beautiful dark brown wood but walnut lumber is generally not available in very long lengths. It also usually has more knots and sap wood (light colored outside wood of the tree) than other woods. Because of this furniture made in walnut requires the purchase of more lumber than would be needed to make the piece in another wood. Since walnut is already more expensive than cherry, maple or oak this makes walnut furniture considerably more expensive.
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 Mahogany |
Mahogany I am no longer accepting orders for furniture made with mahogany or any other tropical hardwoods. After several years of exploring the issue of tropical deforestation I have come to the conclusion that what is left of the tropical forests should be left untouched. I do not believe that harvesting trees from the tropical rainforests of the world is sustainable except, perhaps, by indigenous populations for their own, very limited, local use. Please choose to have us build your furniture in a sustainably harvested domestic wood rather than go elsewhere to find someone willing to build it in mahogany. The only way to stop rainforest deforestation is to stop using rainforest woods. |
