MAHOGANY

 Mahogany, also known as Honduras mahogany is a tropical hardwood indigenous to South America,
Central America and Africa. There are many different grades and species sold under this name, which vary widely in quality and price. Mahogany which comes from the Caribbean is thought to be the hardest, strongest and best quality. Logs from Africa, though highly figured, are of slightly lesser quality. Philippine mahogany has a similar color, but is not really mahogany at all. It is a much less valuable wood, being less strong, not as durable or as beautiful when finished.
Mahogany is strong, with a uniform pore structure and poorly defined annual rings. It has a reddish
- brown color and may display stripe, ribbon, broken stripe, rope, ripple, mottle, fiddleback or blister figures.Crotch mahogany figures are widely used and greatly valued. Mahogany is an excellent carving wood and finishes well.Mahogany is used extensively in the crafting of Georgian, Empire and Federal reproduction furniture. Mahogany is also used in styles ranging from Victorian furniture reproductions to Contemporary.

MAPLE

There are 115 species of maple. Only 5 commercially important species grow in the U.S. Two of the five are hard rock maple and sugar maple.
 Maple is so hard and resistant to shocks that it is often used for bowling alley floors. Its diffuse
 evenly sized pores give the wood a fine texture and even grain. Maple that has a curly grain is often used for violin backs. Burls, leaf figure, and birds-eye figures found in maple are used extensively for veneers. The Birds eye figure in maple is said to be the result of stunted growth and is quite rare.Maple is used extensively for American colonial furniture, especially in medium and lower priced categories.

OAK

 Oak is the most widely used hardwood. There are more than 60 species of oak grown in the U.S., which can be separated into two basic varieties; white and red. The red variety is also known as black oak (a reference
 to its bark).Oak is a heavy, strong, light colored hardwood. It is ring porous, due to the fact that more and larger conductive vessels are laid down early in the summer, rather than later. Prominent rings and large pores give oak a course texture and prominent grain. Oak also has conspicuous medullary rays which can be seen as
"flakes" in quarter sawed oak lumber.
 Oak is the most popular wood used to craft American and English country designs. It is also used for Gothic and William & Mary reproductions, as well as many transitional and contemporary pieces.