Prettiest Wood?

I don't know that bloodwood will give you the figure you want, but it's very dense. I've used it for chessboards and while I love the end result, I really don't like working with it. As soon as I ran some through the tablesaw, I quickly saw why this "Rosewood" is nicknamed "Bloodwood". The dust was fine and "ran" all over the place.

Don

David Eisan asks:

Too bad. Koa is about $27, IIRC. But give some thought to quartersawn sycamore. Striking figure, much like lacewood. About 6 bucks a bf most places.

Charlie Self

"I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it." George Carlin

How about Amboyna Burl? It is very elegant, but not sure of the price.

Digger

Bloodwood,

David,

You might consider branching out into veneer. ("Branching Out" - get it? Wood humour [humor Keith]) There are lots of striking veneers and they won't break the bank. If you're set on solid wood, I would find some figured Koa. Here's an example:

My vote is for the lacewood. Small box, so the figured wood looks to be about perfect. May want to include a contrasting inlay.

Bob S.

I made a lockbox for my pre-teen neice for her to keep her "secrets" in. I used cyprus. When stained, it displays a beautiful grain. Each board has a different grain.

Bill

Add Zebra to the list.

I'll second curly koa. It is stunning stuff. Especially if you can find some crotch or flame wood:

Chuck Vance

Dear Canuck Ironmonger-

what I'd myself is wander about in the aisles myself and see if a particular board of anything jumped out at me. Bridger

David, I like the lacewood or padauk. The padauk will coat your whole shop in a nice red-orange dust, but the end result is outstanding.

-- Ed. O. My woodworking projects at:

Bloodwood has the nastiest dust I have ever found. it is finer then anything else and is really hard to capture. padouk is pretty bad but bloodwood is the worst. desert ironwood is about the same but it smells worse. but bloodwood is not a rosewood. now desert ironwood is about the best looking wood I have found. the grain can be incredible. very deep and shiny.

Curly Willow

^^^^^ ^^^^ You misspelled "lungs".

Chuck Vance Just say (tmPL) It *is* pretty. And the glow-in-the-dark shavings are a conversation-piece.

Didn't you have a pic of that stuff on one of your L-N plane gloat shots on your website?

IIRC, it was *outstanding* looking wood.

Chuck Vance Just say (tmPL) And the planes weren't too bad either.

is this box for the new girlfriend? my wife loves lacewood and gravitates to any box ive done which contains that wood. my personal choice would be rosewood which has some of the nicest grain ive seen. another choice would be maybe a hunk of burl. finally, you may want to consider some plain ol pine or poplar and get some outrageous veneer to cover it up with. many women do not really appreciate the exotic woods, or any wood for that matter. im betting she'd be more taken by the design than the wood that went in to making it. when it comes to making something for my wife, this phrase goes into every consideration of design and construction ....'simple but elegant'.... disregard this post if you are making the box for a guy.

TomL

Bloodwood smells soooo sweet though, I love the smell...

Guys,

I have a little piece of Curly Koa and it really does have the *WOW* factor. I checked with my local wood mongers and no one has any. Onto plan B...

David.

Ok, I will throw my 2 cents worth in. I vote for the curly maple. My personal preference is birdseye maple. Lacewood is pretty but kind of hard to work. I have found that I need to block sand it by hand to maintain a flat surface. Bubinga and red gum are pretty but I would think they are better suited to larger projects, although if you can find a good piece of curly bubinga or "waterfall" bubinga it would be nice for a small box (use sharp tools, the stuff is hard as a rock and dust burns the nose). If you prefer a red colored wood I have seen some Wenge that is very pretty, and for a darker colored wood ebony is hard to beat but may be pricy. If you have a chance to look around some dark curly walnut makes really pretty boxes but my preferences lean toward lighter colored woods.

Burled thuya.

Brian.