WOOD SPECIES
QUICK JUMP
A
AFRICAN WENGE
African Wenge is an exotic hardwood from Africa which is considered endangered. Heartwood is medium brown with nearly black streaks. Upon application of a wood finish (particularly an oil finish) the wood can become nearly black. Grain is straight, with a very coarse texture. It is very durable and resistant to termite attack.
ALDER
Alder is smooth and fairly straight even grained. Some small pin knots exist where the grain will form a beautiful swirl. Wood is slightly softer and lighter than other hardwoods. The wood color ranges from tan to a pale pinkish brown. Stains and finishes well to enhance its own grain beauty or as a substitute for cherry, mahogany or walnut.
ASH
Ash is a medium course with straight grain. It has an open grain so it remains semi-smooth after finishing. The wood color ranges from white to medium brown with a distinctive grain. It stains well and can be stained as a substitute for oak.
C
CEDAR
Cedar is extremely durable, this wood ranges from a pale pinkish brown to a dark reddish brown that darkens over time. Natural characteristics include tiny pin knots, gum pockets, and a unique fragrance. Excellent choice for exterior doors due to natural resistance to rot and decay, the natural oils in this wood are an effective insect repellent. Paints, stains and finishes well.
CHERRY
Cherry is fine and smooth with straight grain. The wood color varies from white to pink to reddish brown. It will contain brown pith flecks and small gum pockets. The whiter sapwood is impossible to remove from the manufacturing process so the doors will contain it. It is recommended that a blending stain is used. Cherry stains well. The color will darken with age and on exposure to light.
CYPRESS
The sapwood of Cypress is narrow and nearly white. The color of the heartwood varies widely, ranging from light yellowish brown to dark brownish red. The overall color tends to be hues of honey color. Cypress readily accepts paint and stains, although many people select cypress for the natural appeal of its honey-like hues, which can be maintained with a clear coat varnish. Cypress is an excellent exterior entry door choice due to its resistance to decay and insects.
– NEW GROWTH CYPRESS
New Growth Cypress also known as Bald cypress, Pond cypress, and Green cypress. It begins its life deep in the swamps of Florida and Georgia. Once it gets to the mill, it becomes beautiful lumber with colors ranging from blonde to honey. New Growth Cypress is a great alternative to using pressure treated lumber in your home.
– NEW GROWTH PECKY CYPRESS
New Growth Pecky Cypress is much like the River Reclaimed Pecky Cypress. Its’ color tends to be a light, yellowish brown. Sapwood is nearly white. Some boards can have scattered pockets of darker wood that have been attacked by fungi, which is sometimes called pecky cypress.
– RIVER RECLAIMED CYPRESS
Curly Pine is the coolest grain pattern that you can possibly expect out of an ancient Long Leaf Pine. Twisted and compacted over many years, these large Long Leaf pines create an almost psychedelic heart pattern that comes alive with just a very light coat of clear finish. Blackwater hunts down the most wicked curly as it is an unreal picture of the tests of time.
– RIVER RECLAIMED PECKY CYPRESS
Ancient Bald Cypress harvested in the 19th Century produced extremely unique lumber with all types of wild holes and indentations. These holes and cavities with the trees, commonly known as pecky, took hundreds of years to develop. Harvested and lost in the river swamps, these trees absorbed the mineral colorings of their aquatic surroundings. Add these various colors of the river to these wild cavities and you have River Reclaimed Pecky Cypress. The Blackwater team specializes in bringing these mesmerizing logs from the swamps to your project.
H
HICKORY
Hickory is coarse and relatively straight grain. The wood is very hard and varies in color from brown to light brown to white. This color variation will create a calico look.
– RUSTIC HICKORY
Rustic Hickory has the same wood characteristics as clear hickory with lots of added character. Knots, color variations, and mineral streaking have a unique rustic appearance
I
IPE’
IPE’ is from Central and South America. IPE’ is a wood of extremes – it is dense and durable. Its incredible hardness and strength make it well suited for flooring application. Heartwood can vary in color from reddish brown or darker blackish brown.
M
MAHOGANY
Mahogany (Sapele) is smooth. The wood color ranges from yellowish to darker reddish brown. Mahogany turns darker with exposure to sunlight. It stains and finishes very well. Its stability and natural resistance to rot and decay make it an excellent choice for exterior doors.
MAPLE
Maple is fine-grained with grain patterns similar to birch and cherry. The wood color is a pale-pinkish color. Stains and finishes well to different shades and is often used as a substitute for cherry.
– TIGER MAPLE
Tiger, curly or figured maple is an aberration that occurs in all the species of maple on an irregular and unpredictable basis and changes a good, utilitarian hardwood into one of our true domestic exotics. The term tiger is used to describe the type of figure that has stripes running prominently perpendicular to the grain of the wood, vaguely resembling the coat of a tiger. This is one of the most popular and available types used in furniture and architectural millwork.
– WORMY MAPLE
The Ambrosia beetle causes the wormy pattern in Soft Maple lumber and the result is very unique looking lumber. The wood has beautiful brown and gray stripes with small wormholes. This lovely wormy pattern will not affect the final performance of the lumber in any negative way. We sort this lumber by hand for the best looking wormy patterns.
O
OAK
– RED OAK
Red Oak is medium with grain that is both straight and cathedraled. It has an open grain so it remains semi-smooth after finishing. The wood color ranges from pale reddish to light brown with a distinctive grain. It stains well and evenly to numerous shades with the grain becoming more pronounced with stain.
– RUSTIC WHITE OAK
Rustic White Oak has the same wood characteristics as clear red oak with lots of added character. Its knots, color variations, and mineral streaking have a unique rustic appearance.
– WHITE OAK
White Oak is similar to Red Oak but slightly heavier and smoother. The wood color varies from light to medium dark brown. It can be stained to a wide range of finish tones. Its natural resistance to rot makes it a good choice for exterior doors.
P
PINE
– ANTIQUE HEART PINE
Blackwater carries Antique Heart Pine and Old Growth Heart Pine. Both products make incredible lumber, and we have any size up to 20” in width. Antique Heart Pine is reclaimed heart pine from old factories, mills, houses, or construction typically from the 19th and early 20th century. Antique Heart is especially strong, and beautiful as it has withstood the tests of time and seasoned to a rich honey crimson color. We carry all grades of Antique Heart Pine from pristine and knotless to rustic.
– CURLY PINE
Curly Pine is the coolest grain pattern that you can possibly expect out of an ancient Long Leaf Pine. Twisted and compacted over many years, these large Long Leaf Pines create a heart pattern that comes alive with just a very light coat of clear finish. Blackwater hunts down the most wicked curly as it is an unreal picture of the tests of time.
– NEW HEART PINE
Heart Pine is sometimes referred to as New Heart Pine. Old growth pine trees are harvested from the ecologically preserved plantations of the Southeast or have been felled by natural causes. The average old growth Long Leaf Pine tree is 100 to 200 years old. Blackwater’s heart pine is available in almost any custom size for flooring or paneling.
– NAILY HEART PINE
Naily Heart Pine is a unique reclaimed floor sawn from the tops of heart pine structural timbers formerly supporting decking that was traditionally nailed down with 1/4″ industrial spikes. The resulting nail pattern is an indiscriminate ‘buckshot’ distribution of black holes. This one-of-a-kind flooring is undirected, haphazard, and undeniably cool, making it extremely popular with bar owners and restaurateurs.
– RIVER RECLAIMED PINE
River Reclaimed Pine has a richer patina and denser growth than other antique wood. Its color ranges from a deep, warm bronze with crimson tones and is the choice of anyone trying to match the early colonial architecture.
– YELLOW PINE
Yellow Pine is known as one of the strongest, most versatile species of wood. The wood has a distinctive color and grain, its sapwood ranging from white to yellowish and heartwood from yellow to reddish-brown. It combines looks, strength, and extreme ease of treatment with the highest nail-holding ability.
POPLAR
Poplar is fine to medium with straight grain. The wood color varies widely from white to green with areas of pale brown, olive green and deep purple. Poplar’s price and smooth texture make it excellent for painting. The wood does stain well and most of the dark greens and purples can be removed in the manufacturing process for a “stain grade door”. “Stain Grade” will still contain white and green wood so darker stains work better.
R
RED GRADIS
Red Grand is is native to eastern Australia, and a number of large plantations have been established in South America and South Africa. The color can vary to almost white to light pink or dark red, the sapwood does not vary significantly from the heartwood, and this should be taken into account when processing it is for end uses where sapwood exclusion is important. The grain may be interlocked but plantation stock is generally straight grained, and the texture is fine.
S
SAPELE
The wood color for Sapele (Mahogony) ranges from yellowish to darker reddish-brown. Sapele turns darker with exposure to sunlight. It stains and finishes very well. Its stability and natural resistance to rot and decay make it an excellent choice for exterior doors.
SIPO
Sipo is grown in west and central Africa. Sipo is used for a variety of millwork applications, thanks to its attractive appearance and moderate resistance to rot and termites. It’s also fairly easy to work with and turns, glues and finishes well. Its heartwood is a uniform medium-reddish brown with an interlocked grain, uniform texture, and moderate natural luster. Interestingly, it also has a faint cedar like odor.
SYCAMORE
Sycamore grows throughout most of the eastern half of the United States. It prefers wet soils of streams and river banks and the edge of swampy areas. Often is it a dominant species in a mixed hardwood forest. The sapwood is a whitish-yellow to reddish-brown and is somewhat lighter in color than the heartwood. The heartwood is reddish-brown to dark brown in color. The grain is usually irregular and very interlocked with a medium texture.
SWEETGUM
Sweetgum has various shades of reddish brown and can be variegated. The wood has interlocked grain, and when quarter-sawn, produces a ribbon stripe. Sweetgum is a very fine, uniform textured wood with the pores and growth rings inconspicuous to the naked eye.
W
WALNUT
Walnut is generally straight grained but has wavy and curly patterns. The wood color varies from white to dark brown. The wood is steamed during the drying process to blend the darker and lighter areas. Areas of light colored wood remain. Stains and finishes well.
Z
ZEBRAWOOD
Zebrawood is native to Central America. The name zebrawood is used to describe several tree species and the wood derived from them. Zebrawood is characterized by a striped figure that is reminiscent of a zebra. Zebrawood may undergo some degree of color change over time, with the light straw-toned background darkening to a richer amber color, and the brown striping turning almost black. This lustrous wood has a texture ranging from medium to coarse, with a grain pattern that is usually wavy or interlocked. It is very durable and highly resistant to termite attack.
