What do you guys look for in wood?

[Matt Lau]

I get most of my good lumber at MacBeath. I've never tried Newton Moore - how do they compare in terms of the woods they carry?

Back when I lived in Carlsbad (San Diego area) Tropical Exotic Hardwoods was literally one mile up the road. Dangerous.

I'm not a huge wood expert, but Newton Moore had stacks of beautifully clear, beams of different woods.
These definitely didn't look ratty. Apparently, a number of cabinet makers go there for supplies.

I'll need to stop by MacBeath sometime.
I need a small desk/table for my room, and want to make something not out of MDF or from Ikea.
Not sure on what wood to use--any suggestions?

Part of me is tempted to buy a slab and stick legs on it Nakashima style.
However, I think that a dovetailed lateral rail would be the right way to do things...which I have no confidence in doing.

[Jake Hillestad]

I prefer quarter sawn and rift sawn when I can get it. Wider is better. I'll go out of my way to avoid stuff with excessive twist or cupping. Like color to match closely in things like cherry or walnut - no sap wood. Thicker is better, don't know that I've bought anything under 5/4 in years. Have an embarrassing horde of 8/4 and 12/4 waiting for the "right" project.

[Matt Lau]

Part of me wants to just build something beautiful--honest---that I can be proud of.
Another part of me wants to just buy the thing and not have another "to do" on my plate.
I'll be heading out to Richmond to check out a small Conant Ball desk that I might buy (instead of make).

On a side note, Newton Moore doesn't have quatersawn mahogany apparently...however, it's got a good supply of quartersawn sapelle.
Why is that? Is sapelle better managed? Or are luthiers commandeering this one species?

[andy bessette]

Working on yachts, I look for mostly straight, flat, dense, teak and mahogany with 1/4-sawn straight grain, free of flaws (knots, sapwood, checks, splits, cupping, worm holes, etc) and with even color (usually).