Every custom furniture maker ends up with a personal vocabulary of species. We carry eight — not because they're the "best," but because between them they answer almost any brief a client brings in. Here's what each one actually earns its shelf-space for.
The daily drivers
- Walnut. Still the darling. Chocolate tones, moderate hardness, forgiving to machine, finishes with oil alone. Pricey now and getting pricier. Sell it on the grain, not the color.
- White oak. The honest workhorse. Rift- and quartersawn stock is transcendent. Pairs beautifully with blackened hardware and Danish-style joinery. Hard-wearing for tabletops.
- Cherry. The quiet favorite. Buttery to plane, ages to a deep amber over 18 months. Clients either love its patina or are surprised by it — set that expectation in the proposal.
- Hard maple. The architect's choice. Dense, pale, takes dye well. Under-sold for dining tables. Over-sold for cutting boards.
The specialists
- Ash. Oak's cousin with a shorter lead time and a lighter wallet hit. Straight grain is a joy. Great substitute when oak is backordered.
- Sapele. African mahogany by temperament — reddish, ribbon-grain, feels premium without the price of genuine mahogany. Machines cleanly; finishes like glass.
- Alder. The secret budget-friendly hardwood. Soft for a hardwood but paints and stains evenly — if a client wants a painted piece, alder is almost always the right substrate.
- Reclaimed whatever. Story-rich, time-expensive. Always quote it as a premium option and always factor 40% waste.
Pricing the species into the quote
A practical rule: quote the client on the species they asked about plus one tier up. If they asked for maple, also give them a one-line upgrade price for walnut. Half of clients pick the upgrade when it's a single line instead of a scary revision.
Sourcing notes from a working shop
- Build a relationship with one local hardwood dealer. Not two. One. They'll save you on mystery orders when you need to find 40 board-feet of quartersawn white oak tomorrow.
- Buy S2S (surfaced two sides) for most commissions. The hours you save on initial milling usually exceed the price premium.
- Always buy 15% more than you calculated. Always. The board you had your heart set on will have a checked end.
What to say to the client
When a client asks "what's your favorite wood?", the wrong answer is the one that sounds like a preference. The right answer is a short paragraph about how the species will age in their space. That reframes the conversation from shopping to commissioning.
