It's all about the wood. . .

When we first started woodturning, I was drawn to the exotic woods with their unusual coloring, patterns, unique scents, and names like cocobolo, bocote, pau ferro, etc.  All of them fascinated me.  As we began turning larger items and the bigger pieces of exotic wood became too expensive for us, we started using a lot of local wood and discovered that wood is just beautiful, whether it's local or exotic.

Many times the wood itself dictates the final design of the piece being turned.  A single swirl in an unusual grain will draw the eye and you suddenly realize you cut a curve into the piece to follow and highlight that swirl although that wasn't the intended design when you started.

Here are a few of our favorite woods, but by no means all of them.  Look in our website for a lot of others.

Cocobolo is my absolute favorite, with its smooth swirls of color.

Scientific Name: Dalbergia retusa

Other Names: Granadillo, Funera, Nambar, Nicaragua Rosewood

Geographical Origin: Central America, Mexico

General Characteristics: A true rosewood whose color varies from yellowish orange to deep-red or reddish brown with prominent black streaks and some mottling with exposure; fine texture with grain straight to interlocked; oily texture with low luster

Bocote is a great wood to turn and has very distinct lines and markings.

Scientific Name: Cordia gerascanthus

Other Names: Canalete, Anachuite, Baria, Cupane, Amapa asta, Louro pardo

Location: Mexico, West Indies, Central America, South America, northern Florida

General Characteristics: Heartwood is tobacco colored to reddish to dark brown with irregular black streaks; heartwood is clearly distinguishable from the grayish to yellowy sapwood; fine to medium oily texture with variable luster; grain is straight to variable.

Tulipwood is just plain beautiful with pink, rust, and purple lines running through it.

Scientific Name: Dalbergia decipularis

Other names: Brazilian Tulip Wood, Brazilian Pinkwood, Pau rosa, Bois de Rose, Jacaranda rosa

Location: Brazil

General Characteristics: A true rosewood with beautiful streaking with a range of colors from yellow, salmon pink, rose and violet; fine to medium texture with a medium to high luster.

Magnolia trees are all over the south, but we never imagined the wood was so pretty or nice to turn on a lathe.

Scientific name: magnolia virginiana

Location: east and southeast Asia , eastern North America, Central America, the West Indies, and some species in South America.

Characteristics:  Cream colored heartwood, with gray and brown streaking. Tight grain and uniform texture.

John came across some majestic old magnolia trees being removed from a nearby yard. When he asked what was going to be done with the wood, the owner told him he could have all he wanted.  Now our workshop is filled with magnolia logs and branches, just waiting to get on the lathes.  Now that we don't use just exotics anymore, that is how we get much of the beautiful wood we work with.  How cool is that?

Wedding gift ideas

Some wedding gift ideas

Curly font with circle frame

As June gets going, and schools are closing, vacations are being planned, and life seems to slow down a little, a large number of young (and not so young) men and women are preparing for the walk down the aisle.  With the showers, parties, receptions, and ultimately the wedding, there's always the questions of what to give the happy couple.  You want to give something personal and meaningful so they will remember you, but sometimes that's awfully hard to do.  I've always had a hard time selecting wedding gifts, especially if I don't know one of the pair very well.

Round font with circle frame

We think our custom acrylic monograms will fit the bill.  All the rage in parts of the country right now, these are being used as decorations on front doors, alone, with a fancy ribbon and bow, or nestled inside a seasonal wreath.  Smaller ones are sometimes hung on doors while large ones are going over fireplaces or on a wall.  We have seen them adhered to the fronts of headboards and hanging over dresser mirrors.  Every time I look at Pinterest, I find another way they can be used.  Because of their light weight and durability, they can be used almost anywhere and in some really unique ways.

Monogram font open style

Imagine gifting the newly married couple with "their" new monogram to use in their new home.  When I was a bride, way long ago, I delighted in writing my new name or initials all over everything I owned because I was so proud of it.  I don't imagine that has changed so much over the years.

We currently offer only a few colors, but you can't go wrong with black or white.  Because we do everything in our backyard workshop, if someone has a special request, we can certainly try to find a sheet of acrylic in a special color just for them.


So I've been playing with these acrylic monograms in lots of styles and fonts.  (I even "shrunk" some to make pendants!) There are a lot of other things on our website that would be nice for wedding or shower gifts, like personalized wine bottle stoppers or handcrafted boxes and bowls, but the acrylic is my newest obsession.  Check it out!  Our store.