W E X F O R D
W O O D W O R K S
Practical products & gifts for the kitchen and home, handcrafted from domestic and exotic hardwoods. Quality equal to the top kitchen/home-decor stores at reasonable prices.
The Beauty of Wood
Wood. It has been the primary building material of mankind for millenia. Its natural beauty is unmatched by any man-made product. The beauty of its color, grain pattern and texture is as diverse as the hundreds of species of trees on God's green Earth. It can be easily cut by a saw, shaped by a router, turned by a lathe, sanded to a glass-like finish, stained, painted. Here are a few of the woods we use in our work. Knowing a bit about them may help you appreciate the beauty of one of nature's most amazing products.
The images and information are courtesy of Ocooch Hardwoods.
Don't just admire the wood. Make something yourself! Visit our friends at Ocooch. They have a wide range of project- ready domestic and exotic woods (no planing required).
Walnut
Walnut is native to the Midwest and Northeastern US, It has a dark nutbrown color.
Bird's Eye Maple
Native to Northeastern North America, bird's eye maple is actually a growth/grain anomaly, not a distinct species. It is the result of shoots that are aborted because of poor growing conditions.
Curly Maple
Harvested from maple trees in the Midwest and Northeast US, curly maple has a distinct pattern of curly waves that really pop and add depth to a workpiece after a finish is applied.
Cherry
Who doesn't like cherry? Native to the Midwest US, it is the go-to wood for furniture and cabinets. Color ranges from pink-brown to reddish-brown as it ages.
Bolivian Rosewood
Harvested from the forests of Bolivia and Brazil, this wood is extremely hard, and can actually blunt power tools. But its dynamic and swirly patterns are unsurpassed.
Padauk
Padauk is from the forests of central and tropical West Africa. It has a striking orange color, with dynamic grain patterns.
Poplar
A very popular hardwood, grown throughout the US, it can be sanded to a smooth finish and is ideal for furniture that is to be painted. One of few woods with a greenish tint. Easy to work with.
Purpleheart
Yep. It's purple. It has a rich, violet color. Very hard and durable. From Central and South America.
Red Cedar
Highly aromatic, it is a slow-growing wood from the Midwest and Eastern US. It is highly resistant to decay, and thus is commonly used in everthing from cedar chests to fence posts.
Mahogany
A popular wood from Honduras (now endangered) and Tropical Africa. Color ranges from light pink to reddish brown. A finish brings out a deep, almost iridescent texture that contrasts well with other woods in cutting boards. Used in everything form furniture to boats and musical instruments.
Red Oak
One of the most abundant trees in North America, red oak is widely used in cabinets, flooring and furniture--and whiskey barrels. It is more porous than whitei oak, and is limited to indoor use.
Oak lasts a long time--some of the oak we use is from pre-Civil War salvaged lumber!
White Oak
Like red oak, white oak is indigenous to North America and Europe. It has a tighter grain structure and thus is more resistant to water damage and stains well.
Wenge
Wenge is a dark, hard, endangered tropical lumber from Central Africa. It is highly prized for its strength and rich dark grain--and is the wood of choice for many musical instrument, chess board and crossbow makers.
Zebrawood
Native to West Africa, zebrawood is a hard dense wood with a distinctive striped pattern, used in everything from gun stocks to guitars, custom furniture and luxury car dashboards. It is currently on the threatened species list.
Hard Maple
A common wood found throughout the North Eastern US, and the source of maple syrup, hard maple is a strong and dense species that is the go-to choice for everything from kitchen cabinets to basketball floors, baseball bats and workbenches.
Sapele
Similar to mahoghany in color and grain structure, sapele is native to Tropical Africa. It has a deep lustrous red-brown color, and is used in furniture, flooring, guitars, veneers and boats. It is highly water and rot resistant.
Ambrosia Maple
Not a distinct species, ambrosia maple has a very distinct grain pattern created by the ambrosia beetle, which bores through the wood and produces a fungal discoloration. No two pieces of ambrosia maple are alike.
White Pine
By far the most ubiquitous wood used in basic construction, such as house framing, white pine is naturally grown and also farmed throughout North America. Premium grades make decent furniture and rustic cabinets. Pine trees have grown to over 2000 years old.
Leopardwood
Also known asl lacewood, it is native to South America (but lacewood is usually lighter in tone). Has an almost brown leathery look. Used in veeners, musical instruments and fine furniture. Failrly expensive.
Salvaged & Reclaimed Wood
One of the amazing aspects of wood is that many species, if properly treated and cared for, can literally last for centuries. Even after years of wear, many coats of paint and stains, wood flooring that was installed 100 years ago or so, for example, can be brought back to its original luster and beauty with a little sanding.
Unfortuntately every day remodeling contractors throw hundreds of "outdated" wooden kitchen cabinets, flooring and furniture into trash dumpsters. Unlike plastic products, which are used once and tossed into the landfill, wood can be used over and over again. Wood from houses built in the 1800s can be repurposed to make furniture, mantels, and beautiful products today,
The image above is of a piece of pre-Civil War wood salvaged from an old house in Pennsylvania, It is over 160 years old. But it is as solid and as beautiful as a piece of oak harvested last year.
If you are doing a remodeling project, we encourage you not to throw away your old cabinets or flooring, But instead consider donating them to a charity, post it on a local "free stuff" site, such as FreeCycle.org, or to a local construction products recycling center,
Here in Pittsburgh, where we are located, we have a great place called Construction Junction. Check it out--and donate your old cabinets. flooring and furniture to them.
This is a solid oak bench made from leftover unfinished oak flooring we found at Construction Junction.
It was tongue-and-groove flooring. We ripped the edges off the planks, and used the pristine oak to build a sturdy bench, using tenons and mortises as the joinery. (no screws).
A good friend of ours found this ugly old table at a garage sale that was ready to be thrown away. But he realized it was made of oak. We dissassembled the entire table and sanded each of the pieces, then put it back together and added a finish. It cost us nothing to do so, but we converted a table that was destined for the landfill into a striking piece of furniture!