Ken, that has changed with age then!

What did you poke in it then?

Yes!
I was sanding a guitar body made from Alder & my daughter came into my workshop and said "smells like popcorn"

My favourite smell is an african wood called Kiaat.
Also like Madagascan Rosewood.
I had a "doh" moment as I realized why it was called Rosewood.

I try to only use local and sustainable woods.  This is just a personal preference, not a strong belief.  Walnut is pungent but I like it.  I really like both maple (smells like syrup) and oak.  Poplar reminds me of shop class in high school.  I am allergic to pine and have to wear a mask when working with it.  This is partially what brought be me to Festool in the first place.  I can at least sand pine without a mask when using the Festool sanders and vacuum.

Camphor smells nice

I've often pondered whether northern and southern sassafras are the same. We have golden and blackheart out of Tassie. Not sure about what else is about in Oz.

A bit of nostalgia - as a youngster I'd often go trekking is Sassafras Gully in the Blue Mountains (west of Sydney) ... here's a link for interest

http://www.wildwalks.com/bushwalking-and-hiking-in-nsw/blue-mountains-springwood/sassafras-gully-loop.html

Info from internet>>>   Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) Sassafras heartwood is pale to golden brown, resembling ash or chestnut. The narrow sapwood is yellowish white. Sassafras lumber has a coarse texture much like Oak and is generally straight-grained. Well-known as an aromatic species it is said that it resist moths and other winged pests much like Aromatic Red Cedar does. It is light weight but strong. Sassafras lumber is easily worked and takes a finish well. It glues well and holds screws very well. Interestingly enough, the roots and blossoms of this tree were used by colonial Americans to make tea. The Mountain folk of east Tennessee, were I grew up, called this tea "the spring tonic". My Grandmother believed that it thinned the blood after a long cold winter and that it prevented what she called the spring lethargy. Sassafras lumber is great for furniture, millwork, custom moldings, windows, doors and cabinet work. It is also used to make walking sticks, musical instruments and beautiful hand crafted Canoes. It is very buoyant and was the primary wood for making oars and boat paddles before fiberglass came along. Sassafras lumber is also very rot resistant. Sassafras is a great all around wood which will work well for nearly any project that you have in mind. We guarantee this lumber to be structurally sound and 100% usable. <<<

My own observations to add to above >>>I have used Sassafras for fire wood.  Like Ash, it is one of the few woods that you can burn immediately after the tree has been felled.  you don't have to season it.  It burns better, of course, after it has seasoned.  You don't want to burn it in an open unscreened fire place, or an open doored woodstove.  It will blow sparks 10 or 12 feet across a room.  Especially if it is still green.  Don't trust it to not throw sparks no matter how long you season it.  It smells like Spearamint chewing gum green or seasoned, altho to a lesser extent when seasoned.  around here (SW Connecticut), it is considered a "weed tree" as it spreads by both seeds and roots.  If a small tree gets started, it doesn't take many years for many trees to become a part of the family.  I love the smell of a sassafras grove.  It becomes even more aromatic as it is being cut.  The lumber is easy to work and reminds me of Butternut for its workability.  With out staining, it is about half way between Ash and Chestnut in pattern appearance.  With staining, it can pass as Chestnut, or it almost looks like a stained red or yellow oak, depending on the stain applied.  no resemblance to White oak.
Tinker

I like most of them...redwood, cedar and pine are my favorites, but they all smell good to me and one of the benefits of working with wood.

Scot

I was afraid my 11th grade English teacher might be checking in
Tinker

Plus.....Root beer is a carbonated, sweetened beverage, originally made using the root of a sassafras plant (or the bark of a sassafras tree) as the primary flavor.

Plus.....Filé powder, also called gumbo filé, is a spicy herb made from the dried and ground leaves of the sassafras tree (Sassafras albidum),[1] native to eastern North America. The Choctaw Indians of the American South (Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana) were the first to use dried, ground sassafras leaves as a seasoning, what we now call filé, or gumbo filé, used in Creole cooking.

Tros(e)y

I'm over the smell of Western Red Cedar.  I think I am becoming allergic to it as well.  I got a rash on my forehead from the fine sawdust, and my throat started to close up from the dust in the air.  Wearing a respirator in 90+ degree weather is lame.   

I'm not sure if there is a wood smell that I prefer over others, but some bring back fond memories.

The smell of fresh cut, still wet Doug Fir reminds me of my first job at 15 cleaning up jobsites. 

Purpleheart - the smell of it reminds me of the first box I ever made for my college girlfriend

Zebrawood - burnt by saw blade or router bit smells like horse crap.  The smell in general reminds me of an unpleasant time   

wet concrete - my grandfather
freshly excavated dirt - my childhood

There are many others... I hope they still bring back the same vivid memories in 30 years

Wayne,

When did you find out you were allergic to penicillin? If it was many years ago, there is an 80% chance you are not allergic to the antibiotic now, either because you were never allergic to it or because you have become desensitized over time. This was the case with me.

It's quite helpful to know if you are allergic because penicillin and its wider drug family are still the most general effective antibiotics around and remain the first-line treatment for many infections. A simple skin test will tell you.

Richard.

Hey Guys, what about  willow, I bet you have never heard of that on, huh ?. The timber that they used for toilet seats was called  willow. when they are new there wasn't much smell but after a few months you could tell the difference. they dont use that timber any more they are all made of plastic

Without a doubt my favorite wood smell is Santos Mahogany by far. For me nothing compares and no other wood is even close.

Hi Reiska,

Normally oak barrels start their life in the wine trade, often in 'les caves de France'. They are then sold on, for more than they cost originally, mostly to the port or madeira makers. Then many years later they are sold again, also at a premium, to the distilling industry. By then the flavour of the original barrel is a distant hint and it is the previous contents which impart most of the flavour and nose. Some barrels go straight from the wine trade to the distillers. If you ask anyone in any of these three 'stages' to tell you the history of their barrels they usually say very little.

The very nicest tequila that I tasted (in a very smart hotel in DC) was over $200 a bottle and had been aged in port barrels. It tasted almost the same as a good whisky.

Now I reckon Festool should store their Carvex machines in the boxes that the dominos are stored in - maybe then there would be a better customer satisfaction rating for their little jigsaw!

Peter