Need Complimentary wood ideas

[John Harden]

I'm designing a curved top, toy/hope chest for my son. I have a spectacular piece of waterfall bubinga veneer that I want to use for the top.

Trouble is, I'm not very talented when it comes to putting together combinations of wood that compliment one another.

Any ideas on what to use for the balance of the chest? I suppose I could buy some bubinga for the "frame" parts, but a lighter wood or something similiar might look good for the panels.

Any ideas on this?

Thanks for any suggestions you folks might have.

Regards,

John

[Jamie Buxton]

To my eye, honduras mahogany makes a good partner with bubinga. It has some characteristics which are similar to bubinga, because they are both tropical woods, but it has some characteristics which are different -- primarily color.

A completely different partner would be ebony. It is just glossy black with finew pores and almost no grain pattern. It would set off the fancy bubinga very well. The downside of ebony is that it is expensive, and the pieces you can get are small. But if this isn't a giant chest, it could work.

[Mark Singer]

as jamie stated Ebony is complementary to Bubinga. Woods like canary, teak, and anegre would also work. The warmth of walnut as it ambers is also a good choice.

[M. A. Espinoza]

How about wenge? Really beautiful and the texture is similar to bubinga.

Also pretty hard stuff if I remember right, has open pores like the bubinga so your finishing schedule will all be the same.

[Seth Poorman]

If your looking for a contemporary look a light wood like maple would make the bubinga stand out !!
Seth....:D

[Perry Holbrook]

My vote would be for a darker rather than lighter wood. I agree with Mark that walnut would be a good choice. I've used a lot of bubinga/wenge combinations in some of my past work and the results have been good, especially in smaller scale pieces. The bubinga/wenge combination is a much bolder look, so care must be taken in a larger project that the mix does not become overpowering.

Perry