Favorite wood?

[jmoriearty]

Just thought it would be interesting to hear everyone's favorite wood. Not the wood you usually end up working with for budget purposes, but your overall favorites to work with if you can afford it. For me it's as follows....though I still haven't tried as many on the CW as on other work.

Hand Carving- Walnut- fairly soft, sands and polishes well, takes detail very well, works easily
Turning- Cocobolo- nothing even comes close to the way cocobolo finishes on a lathe.
Carvewright (so far)- Ash- cheap, holds details fairly well, easy to sand, takes stain well, very few fuzzles.
Furniture- Maple- works well with shaping tools, very resiliant, finishes beautifully, incredible grains
Fretwork- African mahogany- tight grain and cuts easily

[Bigtyme]

My list would be very close to yours, jm. I would add that I really like making furniture out of walnust as well as it machines so nice, but you have to find the right client to spend the do-ra-me for it. Cherry is alot of fun to work with on furniture as well, but can be tough to finish as it can blotch and has to be watched closely. I like turning Kingwood along with cocobolo. It turns almost as nicely.