Hold the Music :: Wood

	American Black Walnut This is one of the cabinet maker's choice woods, durable with interesting grain and excellent finishing qualities. As the tree is small, knots are unavoidable and should be taken as part of the character of the wood. The heart wood can be almost black while the sap wood is a contrasting pale yellow. When building cabinets purely from this wood we try to use select heartwood only. Particularly suited to cabinetry.
	American Cherry American Cherry is another unusual wood, the grain often containing thin black lines and darker swirl patterns around knots. The sap wood tends to be softer and yellow in colour, one issue with the wood is the amount of wastage, often knots have splits which make it very difficult to use in long lengths. The wood is moderately hard and is well suited to cabinetry. Darkens considerably with time.
	American White Oak A very popular hardwood, very hardwearing with an interesting grain pattern. It is less dense than European oaks and lighter in colour, but finishes very well and has a solid 'Oak' feel about it. Well suited to cabinetry.
	Anjan A very hard Indian hardwood, best suited to turning. It finishes briiliantly with a high shine and deep lustre. Can also be used for detail and inlays. Not available in long lengths.
	Ash Ash is one of our most popular woods, it is durable and finishes well. It is one of the lighter woods and can be used with darker woods to create a striking contrast. It is very versatile and can be used for most of our units.
	Beech Beech comes in two varieties, steamed white beech and unsteamed beech which tends to be a pinky colour. It finishes very well with a deep shine and smooth finish. The grain can be varied and the unusual colour makes it a pleasant feature in a room.
	Beli A very hard exotic wood with soft looking light and dark stripes. Very heavy and extremely hard wearing. It finishes well and makes a striking piece of furniture.
	Brazilian Mahogany A very hard wood which has very good finishing properties and is a pleasure to work with. It has always been popular in Britain. Unfortunately it is only available for small detail or as veneer.
	Bubinga A West African hardwood with a deep red glow which darkens over time. The sap wood is white and is considerably softer than the heart wood. Finishes very well and can be used as a substitue for rosewood.
	Iroko A naturally very oily wood so lends itself to external furniture. A good substitute for teak. The wood often has very interesting grain. Finishes well with oil and wax, but if left untreated will go silver/grey. Colour is not uniform and can vary between the two colours shown.
	Maple A very hard wood which is suited to turning and all kinds of cabinetry. The wood finishes very well and is hard and durable. It has an interesting straight grain and sometimes has small black/brown spots (birdseye maple).
	Sapele This is an unusual red wood which is moderately hard. It finishes well and tends to darken over time. This wood can look rather plain in large quantities so we would suggest using it with a contrasting wood to add interest to the finished piece.
	Teak A very hard wood with natural oils that make it naturally resistant to harsh weather. If you are considering this wood it should be as a feature within a cabinet rather than the main construction material for the cabinet itself.
	Wenge Often found in necks of high end guitars, this wood is renowned for its vibration absorbing properties and its hardness, and is a very oily wood. The grain is a striking chocolate brown to black colour with stripes of varying severity! Very hard and oily, can finish well but requires regular maintenance.
	Zebrano A sister wood to wenge, very similar in appearance to beli but with more pronounced stripes in the grain pattern. A beautiful wood which can be used in all forms of cabinetry.