# Great Smelling Woods



## Nature Man (Apr 10, 2019)

What are your favorite smelling woods to work with, and what do they smell like? Chuck


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## Mike1950 (Apr 10, 2019)

Western red cedar, brings back memories of gramps, 50s and 60s the woods and a much simpiler time.

Reactions: Like 1 | Thank You! 1 | Agree 1 | Sincere 2


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## Echoashtoreth (Apr 10, 2019)

Lignum vitae - just a nice sweet smell

And my fave (only live) Ponderosa (aka Santa Fe) Pine! VANILLA COOKIES! Have been known to go from tree to tree to get my fix on vacation.... there may even be a video but u will never see it...  Theres just nothing like them....

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Funny 4


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## Karl_TN (Apr 10, 2019)

Fresh cherry. Smells like... cherry.

But I also enjoy working with woods that have little or no scent like hard maple or birch. 

One of the worst smelling woods is fresh red oak. The heartwood from an old oak tree can often smells like fresh stinky mulch.

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 3


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## David Hill (Apr 10, 2019)

Mesquite! Has a subtle sweet smell.

Reactions: Like 1 | Thank You! 1


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## Ray D (Apr 10, 2019)

The sweet smell of freshly cut bubinga. Domestic wood would have to be cherry.

Reactions: Like 1 | Thank You! 1


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## woodtickgreg (Apr 10, 2019)

Love the smell of Walnut. Camphor is pretty cool too! And of course the Cedars.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Karl_99 (Apr 10, 2019)

Olive Wood smells great!

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 3


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## FranklinWorkshops (Apr 10, 2019)

Spanish cedar followed closely by Chinese Toon. Both have a spicy fresh fragrance that I wish could be made into an aftershave.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Nature Man (Apr 10, 2019)

FranklinWorkshops said:


> Spanish cedar followed closely by Chinese Toon. Both have a spicy fresh fragrance that I wish could be made into an aftershave.


Never heard of Chinese Toon. Do you have any in your arsenal? For that matter, do you have any Spanish Cedar? Chuck


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## FranklinWorkshops (Apr 10, 2019)

May have a little Toon. I'll see what I can find. I sent samples to Paul and Mark last year since they didn't have it in their collection.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## DKMD (Apr 10, 2019)

Lignum vitae... smells like leather and vanilla.

Reactions: Like 1 | Thank You! 1


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## GS-76 (Apr 10, 2019)

Port Orford Cedar. Like fine whiskey and a cigar. No better smelling wood out there in my opinion.

Reactions: Like 1 | Thank You! 1


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## ripjack13 (Apr 10, 2019)

Wonder what kind of smell you'd get if you crossed a Female cat willow with an aromatic cedar.

Reactions: Funny 2


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## Lou Currier (Apr 10, 2019)

Camphor of course...for its medicinal qualities

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 1


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## rocky1 (Apr 10, 2019)

Karl_TN said:


> Fresh cherry. Smells like... cherry.
> 
> But I also enjoy working with woods that have little or no scent like hard maple or birch.
> 
> *One of the worst smelling woods is fresh red oak. The heartwood from an old oak tree can often smells like fresh stinky mulch*.



Have you ever turned spalted mango? Smells just like a rotten jungle floor!

Reactions: Like 1 | Thank You! 1


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## Mike1950 (Apr 10, 2019)

thuya and port orford cedar- when it warms up the cedar makes whole yard smell that way...

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 1


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## TimR (Apr 10, 2019)

Well, not having a good smeller can be a blessing at times. (Sheila says I don’t smell good), I hope I’m reading into that right. 
So it had to be pretty strong and for me that would be the rosewoods or some sassafras.

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Funny 1


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## Arn213 (Apr 10, 2019)

Most woods in Hawai’i have a great flagrant smell, but my favorite is Naieo outside to real Hawaiian sandalwood. While Naieo is not true sandalwood, the aroma is glorious that is both sweet with a woodsy-citrusy combo. I actually save the shavings and burn them on occasions during the holidays and it will permeate the room. It kind of reminds me similar to the sweeter smell in the air outside in the evening when my wife and I honeymooned in O’ahu at the Royal Hawaiian.

My other fave is rosewood from Brasil that is cross between rose-chocolate-baseball bubble gum.

Reactions: Like 2 | Thank You! 1


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## rocky1 (Apr 10, 2019)

Cedar is cool, wife wants to move into my shop every time I turn a bunch of that. She filled several zip lock bags with shavings last batch I turned.

Camphor is hands down a favorite. 

Pine has always been a favorite, turned a little piece of fat wood and that was so strong, that it was almost as interesting as camphor. Entire shop, which as many of you are aware, I got a pretty big shop, smelled blow you over strong of fat wood. For a couple days.

Reactions: Like 1 | Thank You! 1


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## Karl_TN (Apr 10, 2019)

Almost forgot two of my other local favorites. Sassafras like Tim mentioned above because it smells like root beer. Or Osage orange because because it has a clean scent but it's hard to describe.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## William Tanner (Apr 10, 2019)

Me too on camphor. A friend gave me a generous sized piece but I have not turned it. It lives in a prominent spot in the shop and I enjoy carving off a sliver and let visitors smell it. Will turn it someday.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## barry richardson (Apr 10, 2019)

Narra, imbuia, Milo, Cherry, teak smells like leather to me, Paduak is kinda nice, but my favorite is white oak; smells like bourbon

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Byron Barker (Apr 11, 2019)

Hinoki: Smells like lemon and cypress mixed together. Incense Cedar: smells like incense. Chinese Juniper: smells completely original and not like other juniper that I've worked with. Olive wood is my favourite. Very hard to describe the smell, but something like apples. Addicting.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## sprucegum (Apr 11, 2019)

I like the smell of our eastern tamarack. Kind of a sweet woods fragrance. I have often thought if it could be extracted somehow that it would make a great aftershave.

Reactions: Like 1 | Thank You! 1


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## FranklinWorkshops (Apr 13, 2019)

Nature Man said:


> Never heard of Chinese Toon. Do you have any in your arsenal? For that matter, do you have any Spanish Cedar? Chuck



Chuck, I found a small cutoff of Chinese Toon today. Will mail it to you Monday.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## T. Ben (Apr 14, 2019)

Of course cedar,but my favorite so far is sassafras!!

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 1


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## Nature Man (Apr 15, 2019)

FranklinWorkshops said:


> Chuck, I found a small cutoff of Chinese Toon today. Will mail it to you Monday.


That is most kind! Thank you! Chuck


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## Nature Man (Apr 20, 2019)

Nature Man said:


> That is most kind! Thank you! Chuck


Received the small chunk of Chinese Toon today. Asian aroma! Very nice! Will keep just to smell from time to time! Thanks so much! Chuck

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Bob Ireland (Apr 21, 2019)

Although my father won't allow me to turn it in the shop any more, I do like the smell of Camphor. Also like Juniper and cherry.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Tim Carter (May 22, 2019)

Bloodwood is quite nice, smells like cinnamon.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Mr. Peet (May 22, 2019)

Nanny berry (_Viburnam lentago_) has a strong scent. I have a cookie from a county champ that DBI killed a few years ago when doing utilities. Every time the humidity goes up the smell of outhouse whaffs adrift.

Reactions: Like 1


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## JoshfromPA (May 23, 2019)

Sassafras and aromatic cedar both have a place close to my heart. Reminds me of being a younger man.

Always amazed me how strong the relationship between a smell and a really deep memory can be. Crazy how you can catch even the slightest whiff of a smell and boom...be transported countless years back to a memory you didn't even know was hiding somewhere deep in your brain. Both of those smells can bring back vivid snapshots of me being really young ,like going through an old picture album. 

If I catch a whiff of red oak my shoulders shudder. Spend a cold winter night pulling 12/4 off a green chain and your body will NEVER forget that smell LOLOL!!!

Reactions: Like 1 | Thank You! 1


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## Nature Man (May 23, 2019)

Mr. Peet said:


> Nanny berry (_Viburnam lentago_) has a strong scent. I have a cookie from a county champ that DBI killed a few years ago when doing utilities. Every time the humidity goes up the smell of outhouse whaffs adrift.


Are you saying that Nanny berry smells like an outhouse? Chuck


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## Mr. Peet (May 23, 2019)

Nature Man said:


> Are you saying that Nanny berry smells like an outhouse? Chuck



Like the stuff you drop through the hole into the darkness... (I don't mean drop, as from your fingers)

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Nature Man (May 23, 2019)

Mr. Peet said:


> Like the stuff you drop through the hole into the darkness... (I don't mean drop, as from your fingers)


Nasty! Not really what I was looking for... Chuck


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## Karl_99 (May 27, 2019)

Smelly Goodness!

I drilled 18 assorted bourbon barrel blanks. The shop smells great! These get drilled offcenter so that the char from inside the oak barrel shows on the pens. 
I am working on Jack Daniels, Early Times, Makers Mark, Jameson and Glenfiddich. Cheers!

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Way Cool 2


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## Ralph Muhs (May 27, 2019)

SASAFRASS

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 2


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## The100road (Jun 6, 2019)

I’m going with olive wood.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Ralph Muhs (Jun 15, 2019)

Catalpha smells like a hog confinement barn. Not good! But if you own the farm, it smells like money. No I don't own one

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Funny 1


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## Pharmacyguy-Jim (Jun 17, 2019)

Camphor, cedar, tambootie

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Nature Man (Jun 17, 2019)

Pharmacyguy-Jim said:


> Camphor, cedar, tambootie


Never heard of Tambootie. Chuck


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## Pharmacyguy-Jim (Jun 17, 2019)

Nature Man said:


> Never heard of Tambootie. Chuck


It has a sandalwood like smell.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## frankp (Jun 25, 2019)

Bloodwood smells great, Walnut, Yellowheart, Sugar Maple, pretty much any fruit wood I've worked (Apple, Pear, Cherry), I like Box Elder also but it's not as nice as some of the others. And of coures Sandalwood and Cedar. 

One I hate? Gaboon Ebony.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Spinartist (Jul 4, 2019)

Camphor is awesome but my absolute favorite is Lilac. It smells sweet like Lilac flowers

Reactions: Like 1 | Thank You! 1


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## ripjack13 (Jul 4, 2019)

Spinartist said:


> Camphor is awesome but my absolute favorite is Lilac. It smells sweet like Lilac flowers



OMG....you made it on again!!! YAYYYYYY

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Pharmacyguy-Jim (Jul 4, 2019)

frankp said:


> Bloodwood smells great, Walnut, Yellowheart, Sugar Maple, pretty much any fruit wood I've worked (Apple, Pear, Cherry), I like Box Elder also but it's not as nice as some of the others. And of coures Sandalwood and Cedar.
> 
> One I hate? Gaboon Ebony.


I’m not a fan of lignum vitae. Smells like canned corn to me.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Spinartist (Jul 7, 2019)

ripjack13 said:


> OMG....you made it on again!!! YAYYYYYY




Girlfriend was sleeping

Reactions: Funny 1


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## rocky1 (Jul 7, 2019)

Must have been a short nap!

Reactions: Funny 1


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