Wood Identification Kit

I was surprised at the quality and variety in the package. Fairly uniform size, some repeats, exotics were impressive. Labeling of each piece was good. Would buy from this supplier again.

Beautiful, substantial set. 50 Veneers received (yours may vary): Ash- quarter cut Birch White- flat cut, red flat cut Cedar- Spanish flat cut, Spanish qtr cut figured, Spanish qtr cut, western red qtr cut Cherry- qtr cut Elm- qtr cut Hickory- qtr cut Hickory/pecan- qtr cut Mahogany- qtr cut figured, qtr cut Maple- qtr cut curly figured, birdseye, qtr cut, flat cut Oak- white qtr cut flaky, red qtr cut, flaky fumed Pine- flat cut, qtr cut Poplar- qtr cut, qtr cut fumes Red gum- std, clear Walnut- Australian, qtr cut figured, flat cut, Burl Alder- curly figured flat cut Anigre- qtr cut figured, qtr cut Basswood- qtr cut, flat cut Bubinga- qtr cut figured, std Cerejeira leopard Etimoe- curly figured Eucalyptus- smoked qtr cut Koto Limba- black Paldao- qtr cut Primavera- qtr figured Purpleheart- qtr cut figured Sapele- fiddleback, fumed qtr cut Sassafras- flat cut Satine- qtr cut

Large and diverse [domestic and exotic] selections; good examples worth the cost which is not small. Would work best along side a well-pictured text where verbal description was not satisfactory. Great for those selling wooden objects though perhaps a bit less so for woodworkers seeking a deeper assurance of wood species and characteristics. Will need a small storage device to keep from damaging individual examples. Would be helpful if issuing company offered such as well.

This is a fairly big pack of various veneers. They can help use identifying woods. Or small veneer projects.

I don't remember myself ever being so excited looking at the different wood type veneers, but this set is mezmerizing. I didn't buy it as a guide, although one can learn so much from it. I bought the set for making miniatures. Just imagine what a miniature maker can do with these veneers, yummy!! That said, a few are a bit wavy, but most can be used. Beautiful set.

Cherish these, love seeing all the wood I haven't seen before, high quality, beautiful

Summary: -------------- A few small negatives, but overall an awesome purchase and was ready to give a five-star review until I discovered I was given duplicates of three different types of veneer. There were other small negatives, but it's really the duplicates that annoy me. Despite the negatives, I would still buy this again because I don't think there's a more economical way to get 50 (or 47, in my case due to duplicates) different veneer varieties anywhere near this price point and in a uniform, convenient sample size. Things I liked: ---------------- - Most of the pieces seem to be slightly oversized (e.g. 1/16 to maybe 3/32nd in length and width), giving a bit of margin for any issues. - At first, I was trying to find kits like this in smaller sizes like 2x2", but seeing it in person, I really like the 4"x9" dimension because it's big enough to allow me to apply different finishes on the same piece. For example, I could divide it into four sections of 2.25" x 4" and finish them in oil (natural look), followed by a matte, satin, and gloss in a clear coat. - came nicely sanded, my guess somewhere around 180 grit. After gluing to plywood backer, I lightly hit them with 320 grit on the orbital sander (maybe 5 seconds) and they were very smooth and ready for a finish. - 49 of 50 pieces arrived in very good condition with mostly crisp edges. A small number had slight imperfections on the edges (e.g. tiny chip missing), but not enough for me to be concerned since, in all but one case, it was less than the extra margin mentioned above. - For some species, I received pieces of the same species but cut in different ways or with/without figure. This is helpful to learning how to recognize things like flat vs. quarter-sawn wood. Things I didn't like: ---------------------- - One piece was missing a larger (~3.5" by ~1/4 to 3/8" wide) chunk from one of it's edges. I didn't see it in the bag when I opened it, which makes me think it was packaged this way rather than a shipping issue. Though it's possible I dropped it somewhere and wasn't aware. - There were three occurrences where I received a duplicate of the same piece of veneer. - While most of the labels specify how the piece was cut (e.g. quarter vs. flat vs. rift-sawn), a few of them did not. In most cases, I think I can tell that the ones without a specification were flat-sawn, but I wasn't sure about a few of them. - With a couple of the "figured" pieces, I either didn't really see the figure they were talking about or it was sparse figuring. - Although nice to receive different variations of the same species in some cases, it happened more than I would have liked. For example, rather than seeing flat vs. quarter-sawn vs. figured cherry, I would have rather received three totally different species of wood. #### List of wood received My list is below. Based on other reviews, they types of veneer are *not* consistent and seem to be a miscellaneous assortment. Afromosia - Quarter-sawn Anigre - Figured, Quarter-sawn Ash White - Quarter-sawn Ash White - Figured, Quarter-sawn Beech - Flat-sawn Beech - Quarter-sawn Beech - Figured, Quarter-sawn Birch, White - Flat-sawn Bubinga - Flat-sawn Bubinga - Quarter-sawn Cedar, Spanish - Flat-sawn Cedar, Spanish - Quarter-sawn Cherry - Flat-sawn Cherry - Quarter-sawn Cherry - Figured, Quarter-sawn Chestnut - Flat-sawn Chestnut - Quarter-sawn Cypress - Quarter-sawn Etimoe - Figured (Curly), Flat-sawn Eucalyptus spp. - Figured (Pommele), Flat-sawn Eucalyptus spp. - Quarter-sawn Hickory/Pecan - Quarter-sawn Lacewood - Quarter-sawn Limba, Black - Flat-sawn Louro Preto - Quarter-sawn Mahogany - Flat-sawn Makore - Flat-sawn Makore - Figured (Mottle), Flat-sawn Makore - Quarter-sawn Maple - Quarter-sawn (RECEIVED TWO PIECES) Mozambique (aka Tropical Olive) - Figured, Flat-sawn Oak, Red - Quarter-sawn Oak, White - Figured (Flaky), Quarter-sawn Padauk - -, Quarter-sawn Paldao - Figured, Quarter-sawn Pearwood - Quarter-sawn (RECEIVED TWO PIECES) Red Gum - Flat-sawn Sapele - Figured (Ribbon), Fumed, Quarter-sawn Satine - Quarter-sawn (RECEIVED TWO PIECES) Teak - Quarter-sawn Tineo - Flat-sawn Walnut, Australian - Flat-sawn Walnut, Black - Quarter-sawn Walnut, Black - Flat-sawn Wenge - Flat-sawn Zebrawood - Quarter-sawn

I bought this product to make rings. Great variety of wood types, with some burled wood. I also liked that for some there were multiple cuts, which produce different grain patterns. After the first 9 rings and 5 types of wood I am pleased with the results. The length is on the short side for rings. it still works, but any shorter and it would reduce the thickness of a ring too much. Some of the pieces are warped, but for my purposes that doesn't matter because I am soaking and reshaping them anyway. I also see a lot of potential for other little project in this kit.