[DeanK]

I was working with some small walnut pieces last night and when I woke up this morning I could still smell the wood on my fingers. I love the smell of walnut when working with it. I picked up freshly sanded pieces a few times last night and inhaled.

I'm new to hardwood woodworking, but have done a lot with construction pine and have always loved the sensory experience of freshly cut or sanded wood. Walnut has quickly become a favorite. I have some maple, red oak, poplar, catalpa, and cherry queued up for some projects. The guy I got some of that from says he has some sarsaparilla wood and that it smells like root beer when working with it. Tempted to get some just to experience that!

So, what are some of your favorite aromatic woods?

 

[TonyM]

verawood-smells like lilac

worst is wenge...smells like urine

 

[Adillo303]

I really like the smell of Bocote and Cocobolo when I turn them. I too like the smell of pine.

Be careful sniffing black walnut, a gentleman who runs a sawmill tells me it prompted pneumonia. The sawdust is a herbicide, so, it is probably not great for you.

 

[FrankC]

Yellow cedar is one of my least favourite woods, I was working out of a small shop and decided to expand into a larger one in the middle of a fairly big contract. The previous tenant was a clog maker that worked exclusively with yellow cedar, his machinery had been removed but there was piles of sawdust and layers of that dust everywhere. I worked at cleaning up in my spare time, it took several weeks but finally I had got every nook and cranny rid of that stinking stuff. Guess what wood I had to use for my next job.

 

[Paarker]

Wait till you mill up some sassafras.

 

[robert421960]

I always smell all the wood I work with and almost always love it
as I walk thru the woods I always pull leaves off trees and smell them
yea Im weird

 

[Maylar]

Pine is nice. I like red oak too. Haven't sniffed walnut in a long time, but I do remember it was distinctive. Paduk has an interesting aroma when cut but I understand it's not good for you.

 

[mike1950]

cherry and persimmon

 

[sawdustfactory]

I love turning sandalwood, best smelling wood ever IMHO. I too like walnut, cherry and canarywood.

 

[jaydawg74]

I love the smell of fresh cut cedar. especially spanish cedar!

 

[Bill White 2]

Padauk is very nice.
Bill

 

[Old Skhool]

Favorites, aromatic red cedar, and ponderosa pine. Love to work with black walnut, but not particularly fond of the smell, as well as I find it irritate my sinus's.

 

[Stevedore]

I've always liked red oak. I have a nice memory of my mother walking through my workshop & commenting that the smell reminded her of her grandfather's shop when she was a little girl. I was working on some red oak cabinets at the time. Her grandfather was a carpenter/woodworker who, according to her, built a lot of the cabinetry, desks, etc., for the Brockville, Ontario, school system, where he lived. I can only assume that he worked with red oak.

Funny story: She was walking with some friends and saw her grandfather, in his 80's at the time, working on someone's roof. He saw her, & yelled down "Don't you tell your grandmother you saw me up here!". I wish I had known him.

 

[TheWoodsman]

Did someone say sassafras ?



There a few feet of it stashed in the barn. Er, I meant a few thousand feet. :blink:

 

[cuerodoc]

For me it's mesquite!
Has a nice sweet smell, especially when it's a little green.

 

[BZawat]

I love the smell of African mahogany. But unfortunately it - like black walnut - irritates the hell out of my skin & sinuses.

It's a bummer to be a guy who loves to be surrounded by piles of sawdust & have bad sinuses and sensitive skin lol

 

[kreuzie]

White oak. Smells like Scotch whisky. Rather, it's what makes Scotch whisky smell like Scotch whisky.

 

[djg]

While working at the sawmill, it was always fun to guess what wood was being sawn by its smell. I too loved the smell of White Oak, but the distinctive smells of Sassafras, Walnut and Cherry would only add to the beauty of the wood. And you could tell the diffeerence between gray Elm and Red Elm. Gray stunk and Red smelled kind of good.

 

[djg]

Did someone say sassafras ?



There a few feet of it stashed in the barn. Er, I meant a few thousand feet. :blink:

Good Heavens! I only have a few swelect boards; I'd like to have a fraction of that.
Is your neck of the woods heavy with Sassafras and do you have a market for that much volume?

 

[wisardd1]

I would have to say Granadillo (Mexican Rosewood) It smells like Sandalwood and reminds of days long past. I found my self cutting pieces just to smell it!