Know Your Lumber / species by species
Know the species.
Then choose the board.
This is a guide to species makers can request - not a promise that every species, thickness, or grade is on the rack. Actual boards are selected as individual material.
Species characteristics vary by tree, growing conditions, cut, drying, and board.Dark heartwood / pale sapwood
Black walnut
Chocolate-brown heartwood, creamy sapwood, and straight to figured grain. Useful for furniture, boxes, accents, and work where the board carries the visual weight.
Say whether sapwood, heartwood balance, color matching, or figure matters.
Warm brown / visible ray fleck
White oak
Strong stock with straight, coarse grain. Quartered faces can show prominent medullary rays; flat-sawn boards read more boldly.
Ask about actual species, grain orientation, color range, and matching.
Pink-red brown / open grain
Red oak
Useful furniture and cabinet stock with a pronounced, open-pored grain. It is not an automatic white-oak substitute.
Plan around pore structure, color variation, desired cut, and part scale.
Pale / high grain contrast
Ash
Usually straight-grained with a coarse, even texture and strong growth-ring contrast. Useful for furniture, handles, stools, and shaped parts.
Inspect the disclosed lot condition, visible defects, and insect history.
Warm red-brown / fine grain
Cherry
Fine grain with heartwood that deepens after light exposure. Useful for cabinets, small furniture, boxes, and quiet surfaces.
Decide how much sapwood, gum, pith fleck, and color variation fits.
Cream / dense fine grain
Hard maple
Hard, close-grained stock for work surfaces, furniture, fixtures, and details that benefit from crisp edges.
Describe whether clear, matched, figured, or character-rich stock is preferred.
Light gray-cream / softer cut
Soft maple
Generally softer than hard maple and useful for furniture, painted work, panels, and smaller projects.
Confirm the actual lot, color, hardness expectation, and finish plan.
Pale to dark / dramatic contrast
Shagbark hickory
Hard, tough, resilient stock with strong sapwood-heartwood contrast. Useful for handles, stools, high-wear parts, and emphatic details.
Say whether mixed color is welcome and plan for careful tooling.
How stock should be described
What the maker needs to know before the cut.
- 01Species
At the best confidence level the record supports.
- 02Size
Measured thickness, width, and length.
- 03Condition
Green, air-drying, or dry with context and measurement.
- 04Character
Knots, checks, wane, stain, insect evidence, and figure.
- 05History
Source lot and milling date when known.
- 06Price
Tally method and optional preparation agreed in advance.
Bring a parts list, finished dimensions, or simply the next thing you want to make.
Build a stock request