# Smell my Wood...



## DannyBoy (Oct 26, 2007)

Last night I was cutting into some wood that I have never used before (Brazilian Cherry) and I noted that it had a very pleasing smell to it as my hand saw rip through it. It got me to thinking about the smells in my shop (no, not the bad ones). I really enjoy the smell that pulls up in the air as I'm working with wood. Doesn't really matter what type, but just the smell of sawdust is therapeutic to me. Though, I do have a favorite…

Smell and memory are heavily connected. We remember things by smell better than by sight or sound. Because of this, my favorite smell has to be fresh cut wall stud pine. It makes me think of building my parents house along side my father. Awe memories. A close second would have to be maple, but I don't really have a memory associated with that.

So, what are you favorite shop smells?


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## North40 (Oct 17, 2007)

Good:
Sometimes White Oak smells like honey.

Bad:
Sometimes Poplar smells like dog doo.


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## 8iowa (Feb 7, 2008)

It is a fact that our lungs have over two acres of surface area. This is why any fumes that are dangerous to our health can get into our blood stream very quickly. There are a lot of woods that are toxic, or will aggravate those who have allergies.

With the availability of so many exotic woods today, it is important to have a list of woods and their toxic levels. If you are cutting a type of wood with harm potential, it is a good idea to take the necessary steps to protect yourself.


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## JUSToldTLP (Mar 20, 2008)

Pine has got to be one of the best smells there is. I think that is cause it is the most widely used wood out there. But my all time favorite is Black Cherry I love to smell it I love to work it I love the look it has I just love Black Cherry. But you are right there is a memory to the smell I get from woods. Thanks for the post it did bring back some fond memories for me.


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## Tangle (Jul 21, 2007)

People walk into my shop and comment on the smell of leather and wood. Unfortunately those are two smells I can't pick up much. I wish I could still smell them. My nose sure works over time on smells I'd rather forget.


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## wirgit (Mar 19, 2008)

Walnut's my favorite.


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## bobdurnell (Sep 24, 2007)

I'm a big fan of walnut also. I like white oak, aromatic red cedar, teak, and sugar pine just to name a few.


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## Radish (Apr 11, 2007)

A topic near and dear to my heart, having blogged a bit about it in my workshop postings: "home of the sense of smell is the Olfactory bulb at the center of the brain above the brainstem, in an area of the brain called the limbic system. There are areas there that are responsible for emotional response to memory, so that there seems to be a sound physiologic association between scent and memory."

I love the rosewoods, conifers and Spanish cedar, not so fond of ebony (smelly socks).


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## DannyBoy (Oct 26, 2007)

Great comments so far. I wanted to relate another of my own.

Earlier this year (you may remember this post) I reclaimed part of a maple tree stump and borrowed a chainsaw to cut it to dry-able lengths. After working on it in the cold air one weekend for a couple hours, I came in the house and announced to my wife that I now smell like two of my favorite things: Sawdust and motor oil. <->s how a man should smell!

~Danny Boy


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## Karson (May 9, 2006)

Cherry, Sasafrass, red cedar are some of my favorites


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## sIKE (Feb 14, 2008)

I have to agree with Karson here, I love the smell of Red Cedar and Sassafras. As a kid, living north of Houston, I helped my father clear several acres of land that had a bunch of Sassafras which we cut up for firewood (I would cry now) and loved both the smell of it being cut by the chainsaw and it being burned in the wood stove.


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## Toolz (Feb 26, 2008)

Spanish Cedar and Camphor are my favorites. I agree with Tom as to the smell of wood and leather. I started doing leather work years ago just because I loved the smell of leather.


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## dhg (Mar 27, 2008)

I vote for walnut, cherry is good also.

Rich


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## GaryK (Jun 25, 2007)

Paduck, Cedar, Mahogany = good
Bass, Zebrawood = Bad


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## MountainWood (Mar 24, 2008)

Walnut, White Oak, Ponderosa Pine, and Lodgepole = good

Elm = awful (smells like the sheep barn at the County Fair when green)


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## MarkN (Mar 20, 2008)

cedar defanantly cedar


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## Dadoo (Jun 23, 2007)

Cedar and pine make my list but fresh cherry tops it!


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## DannyBoy (Oct 26, 2007)

Funny thing is: Cedar is highly toxic.


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## jcees (Dec 31, 2007)

Cutting into cypress you can smell *ALL *the smells of the swamp all rolled into one! Pretty sour stuff but easy to work and looks great too. Here's a little info about some of the "nasty" woods. Pay heed as some are downright harmful on some level.

http://wiki.bmezine.com/index.php/Wood_Hazards

always,
J.C.


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## HallTree (Feb 1, 2008)

Walnut, Cedar, and Paduck


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## VTWoody (Apr 17, 2007)

Bubinga smells nice, too. I also like Padauk and I have a piece of Sassafras waiting to be used in a Jewelry box for my Sassy Wife and have been hoping that the reports of good smell from that one will be true. I couldn't really get any smell off of it with just my sniffer and the rest of the competing smells in my shop.

I agree with the chainsaw and sawdust smell. It definitely brings up fond memories of working with my father and brothers clearing the property when I was seven or eight. Mostly oak and manzanita at the time. In retrospect, I see all the boardfeet of lumber that we sold for firewood and cringe at the thought of being able to use it now. A very large oak tree fell down last winter on my parents place up in Jamestown, CA and I wish I had known there was a mobile miller up there now, as the wood eventually got cut into rounds for firewood. The good news is that we all expected it take out the house when it went, including the professional tree faller they called in to check it out, and when it did eventually fall down in the storm, it missed the house by a foot.


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## Karson (May 9, 2006)

VT Woody. Sasafrass smells like rootbeer So you will know when you start cutting it.

See my Scratch and Sniff blog


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## barlow (Feb 28, 2008)

yellow birch/red birch, smells like wintergreen


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## DanYo (Jun 30, 2007)

birch, walnut, cherry, mahogany, pine, fir, red cedar and white oak have a nice smell

cotton wood stinks


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## RAH (Oct 14, 2007)

Cedar shakes, my father was a Roofing Contractor and so am I, its a smell I will never tire of. Also hot tar grew up with the smell and learned that it actually smelled like money, go figure.


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## rikkor (Oct 17, 2007)

I just worked some Lignum Vitae. It had a very pleasant smell. Cedar is always nice.


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## Al_Killian (Feb 15, 2008)

Lignum Vitae smells great. I did a trade and ended up with some and love the smell.


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## sandflea (Jan 16, 2008)

Pine is probably tops for me followed by Bloodwood (some kind of a potpourri'ish smell) and then Padauk. Also, when I rout knotty alder it smells like kettle-cooked popcorn. I don't like the sawdust from Padauk though, makes everything look like its covered in carrot shavings (no dust collection yet).


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## Jimthecarver (Jan 14, 2008)

Ever smelled Blood Wood? to me it smells like sweet figs. Search me…lol I dont know it just does.


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## JJackson (Mar 23, 2007)

Cherry, Walnut and sassafras = good

Zebrawood and my finger = BAD.

: )


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## tpastore (Dec 14, 2007)

Bloodwood definately. I am currently making a humidor and like the smell of the spanish cedar but a far second to bloodwood.

One day I bought a sampler bag of veneers during lunch and opened it in my car to check out the pieces inside. When I came out of work at the end of the day I loved the smell inside the car. I still have a piece or two in my car as an air freshner. I thought this would be a perfect "you must be a lumberjack" post but someone else beat me to it.

The smell that brings me back to a good time with dad is Bondo. My dad and I built a 1965 Mustang GT together when I was in high school.

Tim


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