Most amateurs ransack the stores of dealers in foreign woods, for rich and rare varieties, leaving our own native woods for others, of deeper hue and harder grain. Yet it would be difficult to find more beautifully veined wood than chestnut, butternut, some varieties of ash, the root of the black walnut, California rosewood, and oak; all of which are indigenous.
In foreign woods there are innumerable varieties, but as comparatively few of them are to be had, there can be nothing gained to the amateur by mere enumeration. I have said comparatively few are to be had in shops, and that is true for this reason; the woods the amateur can readily obtain, are the woods of commerce; that is, those used in the arts and trades. No one imports woods at a venture, or on chance of sale. Dealers know their customers, and when, by chance, they find a captain of some foreign trader, who has a fancy lot which he has brought over, they send word to their best buyers, who come and view the lot, and take that which suits them, and the rest, worm-eaten and “wind-shaken,” it may be, is either burnt up, or thrown on one side for some button maker, who may find in the short odds and ends a profitable bargain. I shall, therefore, mention but a few of the leading varieties of choice woods, and these the most marked and contrasted. Very many differ only in the name, and, as far as mere exterior goes, are hardly distinguishable from each other, while others are positively ugly.
SNAKE WOOD.
Prominent on the list of foreign woods is snake wood, or, as it is sometimes called, leopard wood. The markings and mottlings in this wood are certainly superb in fine specimens. I have now before me a small vase, made of this material, which exhibits the most beautiful cloudings and veinings. The pattern, so to speak, is in alternate black and red blotches, like those on the back of a snake. When varnished and French polished, these are brought out in strong relief, and the effect is very fine. There is one drawback to its use, however, and that is its brittleness. Notwithstanding the lathe be run at a high speed, it will frequently sliver and crack in the most unlooked-for and vexatious manner, and it is unsafe to undertake any very delicate or fine work that requires time and minute separation on the surface in this material; for general work, however, which has mouldings and convolutions on it, it is easily manipulated, and is susceptible of a brilliant polish. Further: it has the advantage of being “fast colors,” which is more than can be said of many other foreign woods. Whatever color may be developed in turning, will be retained to the end of time. This is not true of either tulip or granadilla wood. Both of these are brilliant in the extreme, when freshly cut, but by exposure to the air, fade away into the most sombre colors.
TULIP WOOD.
This is a moderately hard wood, of a peculiar salmon-pink, veined with reddish brown and gray. The veinings are chiefly parallel with the grain, not straight, of course, but wavy and mottled. As previously remarked, it is beautiful when first cut, but gradually fades into a dingy, reddish brown. It is a handsome wood for contrasting with ebony, or any dark variety, and is chiefly used for inlaying costly furniture, such as musical instruments, work boxes, etc., etc. It is undeniably handsome, however, and by no means to be disparaged.
GRANADILLA.
This is commonly called cocoa wood. It is hard, finely-veined, and capable of a handsome polish. It is largely used in the manufacture of table and pocket cutlery, for the handles. It comes in logs, from two to eight inches in diameter, and is one of the most easily worked woods. Quantities of it are employed for the handles of seals or letter stamps, in which instruments its brownish yellow color and markings must be familiar to many. It fades, however, so that in time it becomes almost uniform in its tone.
TAMARIND.
This wood is very unfrequently met with. I obtained, by chance, a large log of a wood-worker, and was highly pleased with it. It can scarcely be called variegated, except so finely as to be unnoticeable, but for a rich brown color and tint it is unapproachable. It is chocolate brown in hue, and so hard and close in fibre, as to rive like the husk of a cocoanut, while under a burnisher alone it polishes like ivory. It is seldom one meets with a wood so wholly satisfactory, in its general nature, for all kinds of work where a hard grain and fine surface is desirable.