Materials

Material Comments
African Olive
Olea hochstetteri
Light yellow/tan wood with irregular streaks, ranging from brown to black. Fine texture and close grain.
Amboyna
Ptercarpus indicus
Blood red to golden brown color and very dense burl.
Azurite
Copper Carbonate Hydroxide
A mineral named after the Arabic word for "Blue". The color is produced by the reaction of copper with the other elements and often forms with Malachite.
Birdseye Maple
Acer saccharum
Hard and robust wood from the Sugar Maple tree. Grain can straight or curly with a fine texture.
"Black lip" Mother of Pearl
Nacre
"Black lip" Mother of Pearl is a rare type of pearl around Tahiti and its Archipelagos.
Bloodwood
Brosimum paraense
Heartwood is deep red with straight grain and a fine texture.
Bocote
Cordia elaeagnoides
Color ranges from very light to dark browns with mostly straight grain and can be machined to a very smooth surface.
Buckeye burl
Aeculus octandra
In just the right conditions the natural yellowish color of the wood mixes with dark colors created by fungii.
Camatillo
Dalbergia congestiflora
A rare wood which is dark red to deep purple and can be polished to a high level of smoothness. Also know as Mexican Kingwood
Chrysocolla
Hydrated copper silicate
A mineral whose Greek name means "Blue Gold" but color can also range into turquoise and green.
Cocobolo
Dalbergia retusa
A natually durable and stable wood with a rich red color and fine graining.
Desert Ironwood
Olneya tesota
This is an extremely hard wood and so dense it does not float on water.
Ebony
Diospyros
Light yellow/tan wood with irregular streaks, ranging from brown to black. Fine texture and close grain.
Gold
Atomic Symbol: Au
Atomic Number: 79
In pure form (24 carat) the metal element Gold is impervious to rust or corrosion. Gold has been used as both valuable currency and for decorative purposes for thousands of years.
Goncalo Alves
Astronium fraxinifolium
A South American wood with color ranging from light brown to dark reddish brown and blackish brown streaks.
Holly
Ilex opaca
A wood that is nearly as white as Ivory with very indistinct grain.
Irish Linen
A fine material woven into a strong thread and available in multiple colors.
Ivory
Most commonly from the tusks of Elephants and the remains of prehistoric Mammoths, Ivory has unique grain structure and color ranging from white to light yellow/brown depending on age, region and type of animal.
Kingwood
Dalbergia cearensis
This hardwood from Brazil has a fine texture and varies from dark purple to dark brown
Lacy Sheoak
Allocasuarina fraseriana
Dark reddish brown heartwood with medium texture, "Lacy" Sheoak has extra grain cross-texturing that occurs in only around 1% of all Sheoak.
Lapis Lazuli
A dark blue rock composed of the mineral Lazurite and often flecks of Iron Pyrites. ("Fool's Gold")
Madagascar Rosewood
Dalbergia baroni
One of several species of Rosewood from Madagascar, this is a dark and dense wood with straight grain and reddish streaks.
Malachite
Copper Carbonate Hydroxide
Semi-precious stone, named by the Greek after a green herb. Often forms together with Azurite with which is shares a simlar chemical structure.
Pau Ferro
Machaerium scleroxylon
A dense wood with a strongly contrasting grain and a red to dark brown color.
Paua Shell
A sepcies of Abalone from New Zealand with vibrant coloring.
Pernambuco
Guilandina echinata
A vibrant orange-red hardwood from Brazil. It's high resiliance to bending has made it a popular material for Violin bows.
Phenolic
A thermosetting resin, extremely durable and hard wearing. It is used both for pool cue parts like joints and also to make pool balls.
Purpleheart
Peltogyne paniculata
A hardwood with straight grain and a distinctive purple color created by oxidisation of minerals in the wood.
Red Coral
Corallium rubrum
Prized for jewelery for thousands of years, the strongest specimens come from depths of up to 300 feet under water.
Silver
Atomic Symbol: Ag
Atomic Number: 47
Silver is rarely used in it's pure form as it is much too soft. "Sterling Silver" refers an alloy of 92.5% Silver with 7.5% Copper.
Snakewood
Piratinera guianensis
A very hard wood that gets it's name from the distinctive black patterning across the reddish heartwood.
Spalted Maple
Acer saccharum
This is actually regular Maple that has started to decompose. In the correct tempertatures certain fungii can grow in the wood creating the distinctive patterning.
Spiny Oyster
Spondylus Brodnip Princeps
Found in the Gulf of Cortez, the shell can range in color from orange through to red and purple.
Sugilite
Potassium Sodium Lithium Iron Manganese Aluminum Silicate
Names after the Japanes geologist who discovered it in 1944, this mineral has an unusual chemical structure that produces a deep purple coloration.
Tulipwood
Dalbergia decipularis
A yellow-orange colored background with yellow rose, pink and violet in the grain.
Turquoise
Hydrated Copper Aluminum Phosphate
Rare and valuable, famous for it's blue-green color. Tuquoise was prized by the Egyptians and used to create jewellery for the Pharoahs.