Reply by stefang

I think wood is a little like food, variety is best and some woods are better suited to some projects than others. I have almost no experience with exotics, but one wood I love to work with is Mahogany, another is Ash because some pieces with pretty wild grains can be found. Another favorite of mine is White Oak because it works well, is pretty stable and surprisingly easy to plane and cut. Otherwise I see lots of other wood types that look wonderful, but which I don’t have access to aside from some small pieces I have of Walnut, Maple, Cocobolo, and African Blackwood. Locally we have Birch, Alder, Oak, Beech and Pine for the most part. I did get some Lindenwood last week for carving. It is similar to Basswood and it smells terrible, but it carves well.

-- Mike, American in Norway