Misc. Exotic Woods

I was at a woodworking store the other day and just perused the lumber area to snap a few pics to put up since I recently posted about how diverse wood colors and appearances can be. I haven't worked with most of these, and most are really expensive.

After the jump are a bunch of pics....

Black Palm

That's black palm. Looks really sweet. Apparently it's in the same family as grass... silly botanists. It's really heavy.

Marblewood

This is marblewood. It looks kind of like the spalted maple I used for my knife strip. It was another really heavy wood. I immediately thought that it could make some great knife strips. It's really a striking material.

Osage Orange

I mentioned osage orange before. (Sorry about the picture quality, it's been coated in a layer of wax because it's turning stock so that plays havoc with an iphone camera). I can't say that I really like it, but it is a unique color and for people who are trying to make a rainbow or other colorful piece that requires yellow/orange, this is the wood for you.

Purpleheart

We've talked about purpleheart wood before. Just saw a piece and thought I'd snap a pic of it.

Birdseye Maple

This is another example of birdseye maple. It's what I used on my end table, so head there and I talk about it a bunch.

Zebrawood

That's zebrawood. It is one of the coolest looking species that I've ever seen. I recently met a guy who wants to build an entire dining room table out of it. That would be really expensive, but unique and incredibly striking. I showed it to a wise person who remarked "I could see that being made into some really 'Mad Men' style or art deco pieces." She was dead on. I think this could make great stuff from either period.

Ebony

That is ebony. That link is to an entry on Gaboon Ebony, which is a type of ebony. I'm not positive, but I think this is Gaboon. Ebony is black. It's incredibly dense, and it's the heaviest wood I know of. It also plays hell on saw blades. I've heard that any extensive ebony work will completely ruin a brand new high-quality carbide tipped blade. The lumber itself is also *extremely* expensive. Typically, this is used primarily for inlays or other accents.