Woods

Our preferred materials are Scottish home grown hardwoods which we obtain direct from reputable sawmills here in Scotland. Two such sawmills are Fairlie Sawmill in Fairlie whom mill and kiln dry a wide variety of hardwoods and Scottish Wood which is a woodland charity based in Dumfermline.

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Ash (Fraxinus excelsior)
	Ash wood is a traditional material for tool handles, tennis rackets and snooker cues. It is also used as firewood because it burns well even when 'green' (freshly cut). Ash was coppiced, often in hedgerows, and evidence in the form of some huge boles with multiple trunks emerging at head height can still be see in parts of Britain.
Beech (Fagus sylvatica)
	Beech wood has fine, short grain and an excellent finish. It is particularly well suited for minor carpentry, particularly furniture. From chairs to parquetry (flooring) and staircases. It is a pale creamy brown colour, with distinctive dark flecks; annual rings although visible do not result in a distinctive figure. In general, beech wood has an uniform appearance with sapwood that can’t be distinguished from heartwood.
Birch (Betula)
	Birch is a medium heavy, hard and tough wood. Due to the unique combination of hardness and toughness, birch wood are used for furniture, joinery, turned products and floors. It has a light colour (pale creamy) to yellow brown colour and a natural luster appearance with a fine texture.
Cherry (Prunus)
	Cherry wood is hard, fine-grained and used for turning, especially the large burls with unusual grains which can appear on the trunk. It is also used for mainly in cabinet making with some limited used in high quality interior joinery and has its red-brown wood polishes up well to a deep, shiny brown colour.
Elm (Ulmus)
	Elm is the most commonly used in furniture making. It is very popular with people who like a natural and wild figure in their wood. Burr elm is also used widely for turnery and small decorative articles. Elm is a colourful timber. The figure of the timber also varies. The figure of plain elm is dominated by the pattern that arises from contrasting early and late growth, but elm also has patches of irregular grain.
Larch (Larix)
	Larch wood is a hard strong and an attractive warm reddish brown or terra cotta colour with gold streaks, which fades to silver after prolonged exposure to sunlight.
Oak (Quercus robur)
	Oak wood is used for all types of structural work - in beams & lintels, oak frame construction, windows, doors, and floors. Good quality oak is widely used for furniture, interior joinery, carving and turning. Oak varies a little in colour depending on growing conditions, but is generally described as light tan or biscuit coloured. Scottish oak is often slightly darker than either French or German oak. One characteristic feature of oak are its broad rays, which appear to best effect on quarter sawn planks. On most oak planks, however, the figure (the appearance of the wood) is due to the patterns formed by contrasting early and late growth and the features (thin, pale lines) in the wood are not rays, but thinner parenchyma.
Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus)
	Sycamore wood is excellent for furniture and internal joinery, particularly in kitchens - tables and worktops. It’s also used to make musical instruments, e.g., harps and violins, and for making domestic utensils, like rolling pins, pie moulds, and chopping boards. It has a lovely creamy colour with a natural luster. It darkens somewhat on exposure to light which becoming golden in appearance. Sycamore has a subtle figure, with visible growth rings but few other distinguishing features. Rippled sycamore has a beautiful wavy figure, caused by varying grain direction.