Wood Leg Species

Alder

• Grows in the Pacific Northwestern Region of the US and Canada.
• Alder is characterized by its straight grain and even texture.
• Its reddish brown color looks similar to cherry, but its rich tone gives a unique beauty.
• Most often used in flooring, furniture, and cabinets.
• While it is nice that alder stains easily, it can also pick up unwanted blotches and marks.

Cherry

• A very popular and all-around great wood; easy to work with, stains and finishes well with just oil, and ages beautifully.
• Cherry's heartwood has a reddish-brown color to it and the sapwood is almost white.
• It has a hardness of 2 on a scale of 1 to 5.
• Cherry is usually found in up-scale homes or businesses due to its rich and warm appearance.
• Closed grain in appearance, finishes like glass.

Hard Maple

• Harder than many other woods; it is so hard (a 5 on a scale of 1 to 5) that it is difficult to work with. Because of its fine, straight grain, maple is more stable than most wood.
• Maple can be difficult to stain unless a sizer is used to prevent blotchiness.
• Clear coated maple has a bold appearance as it is one of the whitest woods available.
• Closed grain in appearance, finishes like glass.

Hickory

• Has a combination of strength, durability and toughness unmatched by any other wood.
• Coming from throughout the northeast and midwest, hickory is frequently used in flooring, cabinets, and tool handles.
• While no longer used in baseball bats, it is still seen in drum sticks, golf clubs, and lacrosse sticks.
• Hickory stains well to a variety of colors.

Paint Grade

• Paint grade is not a specific type of wood. Other wood species that have color variations will be used to fill paint grade order.
• As it is not uniform, paint grade is the cheapest wood species.
• While it does not look perfect unfinished, it is great for painting. If you already are planning to paint your wood, you can save yourself a few dollars by choosing paint grade.

Poplar

• Poplar is a flexibile wood with a light, porous material.
• Typically green in color, the two pictures to the right shows the variation in poplar's appearance.
• Poplar if frequently used in the base of drums and electric guitars and in chopsticks.

Red Oak

• One of the most used woods for furniture.
• Oak is strong (4 on a scale of 1 to 5) and easy to work with.
• Red Oak's a timeless material that will always be around; select a honey stain and this species will never be outdated.
• Open grain in appearance, pores are visible when finished.

Rubberwood

• Don't let rubberwood's name fool you: it is a strong hardwood species coming from hevea brasiliensis trees that rarely cracks or warps.
• Has great staining properties which allow it to stain to any color.
• Rubberwood is eco-friendly: trees are not chopped down just to use it in hardware. It is used only after it has finished producing latex (25-30 years). In other words, it is used at the point when it would normally be discarded.
• While not suitable for outdoors, rubberwood is great for furniture and in kitchens.