This contrasty African relative of rosewood has a deep brown background with notable dark brown to ebony streaking and a nice natural luster. Outside Africa it’s increasingly used as a more affordable substitute for walnut. Produced in both quarter and flat cut veneers, this intense and well veined veneer is in demand for high-end architectural settings--the stronger the veining, the more valuable the wood. Due to its excellent tonal qualities, the wood is prized for the production of musical instruments.
Millwork
In folklore, white oak is a symbol of strength and longevity. This domestic standard is a bit smaller in diameter than European oak and ranges in color from biscuit to golden brown to somewhat gray. It has the distinctive grain pattern and abundant angular pores that produce a wonderful flake pattern in quarter and flat cut veneers. Rift cut, the veneer produces a straight, combed grain with minimal flake. Fumed, the wood turns a warm dark brown reminiscent of Arts & Crafts-style furniture. Rustic options have rich character marks and grain variations for a truly rustic look (intended for random matched sequences). Also available in recon and rough cut.
English brown oak isn’t actually a separate species; rather it’s the result of a fungus that has infested the heartwood of a European oak and turned it a rich, dark brown. When that process doesn’t deteriorate the wood itself, it’s sliced to produce this highly desirable, deep brown veneer. Available in flat or quarter cuts as well as rift cut, which produces an exquisite flake pattern when sliced across the wood’s broad medullary rays.
One of the most common trees in European forests, this oak has long been associated with the mythological gods due to its immense size, strength, and longevity. Like most oaks, the grain is straight with broad rays that produce a lively flake effect in flat or quarter cut wood and straight combed grain in rift cut. The golden-brown wood is slightly darker than American white oak, and slightly lighter than English brown oak. Fumed veneer produces a rich chocolate-brown color similar to tropical and African woods. CoCo (color-imbued) options are available in several shades of gray and brown. Vintage oak is sliced from the hand-hewn beams of reclaimed wood from old barns and farmhouses across Europe; this rustic looking veneer is intended for use in random matched sequences.
North American oak is well suited for rustic or modern interiors. While different growing conditions can produce a range of colors, in general, it’s slightly redder, more uniform in color, and has a less prominent flake figure than white oak. The grain is firm and straight, somewhat coarse with large pores. Rift cut veneer produce a very straight, combed grain effect.
At first glance, paldao resembles American black walnut. This enormous tree is most often found along streams and marshy soils in Indonesia and the Philippines. Paldao grows with a remarkable buttress encircling the lower trunk creating 40’ diameter growths which remote tribes believed held sprits. This is a beautiful veneer: a grey-brown background streaked with highly decorative dark stripes. Flat cut wood produces a cathedral pattern; quarter cut wood has a stripy contrast and is often finely figured.
This wood is indigenous to the Yucatan Peninsula and is prized for its dramatic, saturated coloring—reddish brown with black, violets, and oranges typically mixed in. The grain is typically straight with some irregularity. It’s a premier choice for high-end furniture and interiors and is highly regarded as a tonewood for marimbas and xylophones, earning its nickname “the wood that sings.”
This European fruit tree produces a very fine-grained wood with a uniform texture and a partial flame that is both beautiful and decorative. The wood is often pith-marked and occurs in colors from rosy cream to light reddish brown in both plain and figured logs. When fumed, pearwood turns a rich, dark brown; when stained black, it provides an excellent substitute for ebony.
A cousin of the hickory, the pecan tree was so central to native Americans in the lower Mississippi river valley that it was associated with the Great Spirit. Today the tree is cultivated in southern orchards for nuts and is prized as a fine cabinet wood. It has a typically straight grain, a medium texture, low natural sheen, a medium reddish-brown heartwood and paler yellow sapwood, and may be figured. Pecan stains well and is sometimes stained to match or replicate other woods.
Planetree is a particularly decorative veneer—reddish-gray with a silvery sheen, straight grain, and a lovely small flake in quarter cut veneer, the result of cutting through its extremely regular medullary rays. Found in wetland habitats across Europe, it's said to be the specie of the famed Solitary Tree that legend says marked the spot of the battle between Alexander the Great and Darius in northern Persia.
This rare and beautiful, light-colored Central American tree grows in a dog-leg fashion, making straight sections over 10’ uncommon. Because it must be cut when the sap is low, native loggers watch the phases of the moon, waiting for the waning phases when sap is limited to harvest. Yellowish-red in color, and streaked by brown, red, or orange, the wood produces a range of beautiful figures and is highly prized for architectural work.
Among the largest and tallest trees on earth, the redwood produces a rich, warm, inviting veneer that’s as impressive as the tree. Uniformly deep reddish-brown, the grain in quarter cut veneer is beautifully striped or figured by fine markings. Burled veneer (also known as vavona burl) is sliced from huge, prolific burl growths found on occasional redwoods, producing some of the largest and most uniform burled veneer in the world.
This elegant, tobacco-colored veneer is similar to Brazilian Rosewood, but somewhat less contrasty in color. Rich hues range from dark chocolate brown to violet and even black in lively combinations that produce a one-of-a-kind look prized for architectural use. Flat cut, the wood shows a beautiful cathedral pattern; quartered it produces a straight or broken stripe effect.
Madagascar Rosewood can be found in various shades of deep brown to reddish-brown. The veneer has a medium to fine texture and ribbon grain, typical of rosewoods, with pronounced dark red, vertical lines that can be wavy in some logs. Darker streaks are common and can produce a spiderweb-like figure. Flat cut, the log produces a swirly, burl-like heart.
This is one of the world’s most loved and prized veneers. It ranges in color from lustrous chocolate-brown to purple-black with a cream colored sapwood—all very saturated with a vivid contrast. It has a lively variegated stripe and occasional bee’s wing figure and, when flat cut, produces a characteristic cathedral pattern. Increasingly used as a substitute for the extremely rare but prized Rio rosewood.
Sapele varies in color from log to log, but is generally medium to dark red-brown. Finishing brings out an intense depth of color and highlights its natural luster, which is similar to mahogany. This veneer has a fine grain, a distinct and desirable stripe formation, and often carries a lively figure. Flat cut sapele shows the characteristic heart or cathedral grain The highly prized pommele sapele is intensely marked with a swirly grain and randomly interspersed blisters, or pommele markings. A high degree of luster gives sapele a three-dimensional effect.
Satinwood is a pale gold wood with a rippled grain and straight striping. Typically figured, Satinwood often produces a bee’s wing or mottle figure. Satinwood is used for decorative inlays on table and conference tops. It is also used for high quality furniture and cabinets. Select logs are sliced to produce extremely attractive veneers for high-end architectural paneling, cabinets, and marquetry.
Pale yellow-gray to nearly white, sen is a Japanese ash popular in Japan for both furniture and interiors. It has a straight, fine grain when cut on the quarter and a nice cathedral character with a fine grain on either side of the heart when flat cut. When marked with a pommele figure, this veneer is called "tamo." Sen is an excellent choice for a variety of interiors aesthetics including modern, Asian, and minimalist designs.
Knotty spruce, characterized by its distinctive features, presents a charming and rustic aesthetic. The wood showcases a myriad of small, brown knots scattered throughout its surface, creating a unique and visually appealing texture. These knots add character to the spruce, bringing forth a sense of natural artistry. The uniform light color of the specie produces a natural radiance and a prominent striped grain, while the patterns formed by the knots contribute to the wood’s overall rustic charm. This wood variety is not only visually striking, but also carries a touch of authenticity, making it an excellent choice for those seeking a distinctive natural appeal in their furnishings or architectural elements.
Vintage knotty spruce is sliced from hand-hewn beams reclaimed from old farmhouses, barns, or commercial buildings. Preserving the natural character of the wood, the beams are washed, de-nailed, dimensionally sorted, and then sliced into veneer. The veneer is generally straight grained with knotty characteristics that include splits, checks, nail holes, and occasional discolorations that reflect its history and give the wood a rustic feel. This veneer is sliced at 1.4 mm and intended for use in random sequences.
Named for a city in northern Brazil, sucupira is a South American hardwood with a character similar to rosewood or teak. It has a warm chocolate color with a fine yellow stripe, a lustrous finish, and a lively interlocking grain that is rarely figured. Flat cut veneer produces a beautiful cathedral pattern.
Actually a maple by genus, sycamore is among the most valuable native broad-leafed trees in Europe. Nearly white in color with a fine, close texture, notable uniform structure, and straight grain that may be figured, this light color wood evokes a minimalist elegance. Flat cut veneer shows the characteristic cathedral pattern. It readily accepts stains and can be dyed to many colors, most popularly a silver gray.
Tamo is the name given to highly figured, rotary cut, Japanese ash. This highly prized veneer is known and sought-after worldwide for its stunning, lustrous, pommele or "peanut shell" figure—a lively, variable, swirling background with peanut or blister figuring. Colors range from brownish-tan to gray to almost white—all of which provide rare and uncommon options for highly decorative interior spaces and custom furniture.
Teak is among the oldest commercial lumbers and remains a popular wood today, particularly in Asia, the US, and Scandinavia. It ranges in color from straw colored (which some consider the most desirable) to dark, dusty brown with fine, dark, contrasting stripes. Flat cut, the mineral streaks provide a contrasty grain structure in the cathedral pattern, much like American walnut. Pure golden teak without mineral streaking is available, but rare. Reconstituted teak is a manmade product that provides the beauty of teak with outstanding consistency in color and grain from sheet to sheet. Also available in recon.
One of the richest, darkest, and most exotically beautiful burls in the world, Roman woodworkers used this precious wood in temples in Biblical times. Today very little thuya is cut for lumber, instead workers dig beneath the ground to harvest the tree’s root burls, which are rotary sliced for veneer. The aromatic wood varies in color from light tan to deep, rich chocolate brown. The eyes of the figure are typically small and thickly scattered, creating a concentrated burl figure highly sought after for marquetry, custom furniture, and high-end architectural use.