Wood Species Reference Guide
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Most beginners pick wood by price alone and spend the next hour fighting it. This quick reference card gives you the single page you wish existed on day one — ten common species, side by side, with the properties that actually matter before you make your first cut.
What's inside
Covering Pine, Mahogany, Walnut, Sapele, Ash, Iroko, Teak, Red Oak, White Oak, and Hard Maple, each entry breaks down four things: hardness, workability with hand tools, the projects each species excels at, and the one gotcha that trips beginners up. Pine's permanent denting. Sapele's grain reversal. White Oak's reaction to wet metal. Hard Maple's sensitivity to humidity swings. These are the lessons usually learned the hard way — condensed into a card you can keep at the bench.
Who this is for
Whether you're choosing timber for a first box, deciding between Iroko and Teak for an outdoor project, or figuring out why your chisel keeps dulling faster on one board than another, this reference cuts through the noise. No jargon, no filler — just the information you need to make a confident choice at the timber yard.
Produced by The Makers Society
Built from real workshop experience at Dubai's dedicated hand tool training centre and makerspace. Every species note in this guide reflects what our students encounter at the bench — not theory.
Download, print, and keep it. It earns its place.
