ARGENTINE BLACK MESQUITE-Argentina- This wood is brown to chocolate in color. This species lumber in wide, long boards may appear light chocolate to almost purple.
ARGENTINE LIGNUM VITAE-Argentina-An extremely hard olive-green wood. It is characteristically a very figured species with an oily feel and a strong spicy-sweet fragrance.
BLOODWOOD-South America- This species is a medium to hard wood with red to crimson coloration. It is sometimes called "Cardinal Wood" due its deep red color.
BUBINGA-Africa- This species varies greatly in coloration and grain patterns, but heartwood generally is a medium red-brown with lighter red to purple veins and will naturally darken with age.
CATALOX-South America-Catalox is a dark wood with tinges of deep purple giving extreme contrast to the grain. Catalox has distinct grain with good figuring.
COCOBOLO-Central America-An extremely hard and dense wood with colors varying from red to yellow and striped with black to lighter black. Cocobolo will darken with age, and can take on a dark burgundy color that always impresses. It is waterproof which is excellent for making pens, or knife handles. When sawn or sanded, it will emit a light lilac-like fragrance.
EUROPEAN STEAMED BEECH-This species has a light orange tan color. It has fine graining and small rays that give it a unique appearance.
GRANADILLO-Central and South America- An extremely hard, satiny, reddish brown wood with light cream colored highlights and a unique swirling grain.
JATOBA-Central and South America- This species heartwood is salmon to reddish brown and darkens with age. The sapwood is usually white to yellow but may be gray or pinkish and is wide and well defined. Heartwood may have brown streaks.
LACEWOOD-Australia- Heartwood pale pinkish brown becoming yellow brown on exposure. The sapwood is a cream colored, and is moderately well defined. This species texture of medium to coarse grain is straight to wavy; lustrous; and because of large rays the figure is prominent on quartered faces. The wood works well with hand and machine tools and finishes smoothly. It has been rated very high in all-around machinability.
PADAUK-Congo of Central Africa- This wood is vivid reddish-orange, but the grain pattern varies from bright red or coral pink with dark streaks. Exposure to direct sunlight can cause it to take on a rich dark brown hue.
PINK IVORY-Abel (Cameroon), Aiele (Ivory Coast)- Heartwood a light pinkish brown or light pinkish. It is very rare and prized for turning stock due to its distinctive coloration.
PURPLEHEART- Central and South America- One of the most distinctive woods in the world, purpleheart is prized for its very unusual deep purple color. This species will continue to deepen its purple color when exposed to sunlight.
REDHEART-Central America- Pale to dark red that will deepen in color with age. Grain is straight and tight. Fresh cut material has a bright red look that will darken with exposure to sunlight.
SAPELE-Africa-This wood is hard and close grained and of cedar-like texture.The heartwood is a medium to dark reddish-brown color and the grain is interlocking with fairly fine texture. Sapele is often used in a quartered sawn or ribbon striped look and can even show a fiddle back figure in some boards.
SHEDUA-Mozambique-a light to dark golden brown wood that polishes up to a superb patina.
WENGE-Africa- The heartwood of this species is clearly defined and is a deep rich chocolate brown, with very close, fine, almost black veins. This coloration gives the wood alternating dark and light brown bands that produce a very distinctive and decorative appearance. There are sometimes closely spaced whitish bands, which can give the wood a most attractive and unique appearance.
ZEBRAWOOD-Africa- A medium to heavy hardwood that is a light tan to golden yellow with streaks of dark brown to black. The alternating coloration of this species make stunning patterns in pen blanks, and other turning projects.
