Favourite wood smell?

[Tinker]

I have just read thru the whole list of wood smells > likes/dislikes.
I kept thinking right from the start that somewhere along the way I might run across my favorite.

a few notes back, Eco-Options came close for me when he mentioned birch (maine red birch).  close, but not quite.
I was feeling quite unique as I neared the bottom of the page and nobody had mentioned my, with no reservations, all time favorite.

And then, my ego busted, two posts back, a kindred soul, Trosy, burst my bubble.

Sassafras.

Tinker

 

[Kev]

I have just read thru the whole list of wood smells > likes/dislikes.
I kept thinking right from the start that somewhere along the way I might run across my favorite.

a few notes back, Eco-Options came close for me when he mentioned birch (maine red birch).  close, but not quite.
I was feeling quite unique as I neared the bottom of the page and nobody had mentioned my, with no reservations, all time favorite.

And then, my ego busted, two posts back, a kindred soul, Trosy, burst my bubble.

Sassafras.

Tinker

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

 

[rdesigns]

Eastern White Pine is a smell that brings back memories of my Dad teaching me how to use hand tools as a child.  I played with some sugar maple once that smells good, as does mulberry.

I'm with you on Eastern White Pine, even though here in Idaho it's not commonly stocked. I have read that Idaho White Pine is suppposed to be almost identical to EWP, but the smell is definitely different. IWP has a pleasent, resin-y smell, but EWP has a sweetness with it that is unmistakeable, and, to me, the most pleasent of all wood smells. (Not that I can claim to have smelled all the world's woods, or even all of America's woods. I feel deprived.)

 

[Tinker]

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. >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

 

[zapdafish]

smoked hickory on beef brisket, chicken wings, ribs, turkey, etc.....

 

[ScotF]

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

 

[Ken Nagrod]

Wayne,

You know you're not being graded on your book report.  [tongue]

 

[Tinker]

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

 

[waynelang2001]

Favourite wood smell??---------------------> paper money.....................

 

[Trosey]

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. >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

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 [wink]

 

[pugilato]

Mango has a nice smell...

 

[Vindingo]

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

 

[Tinker]

Vin,
First off, be carefl if you find you areallergic to some woods.  That swelling part can be bad news.  You should have it checked out, especially since it starts to close up your throat.  Not good.  I know a little about allergies (bees & pennecillin are my buggaboos) and you can, inmany cases, be desensitized.  Don't be a hero.  look into it. I did and i no longer need to take precautions that used to be necessities when working around bees.

Even tho I am only 39, I can assure you there are smells you will never forget.  The memories will always be there.

When our kids were little, we (wife, two kids and I) would take several trips per year back to The Farm in Massachusetts where I had grown up for several years.  I had loved the farm lifeand, in fact, went to college to study dairy farming and animal husbandry.  (That's another long story for another time) As we came within the last ten miles of our destination, we rounded a bend and off to the side was a large dairy barn.  There were always the farm smells to greet as we rounded the corner. The strongest was grass silage when it was uncovered for feeding to the cattle, but there were other smells, such as cow dung in its various stages of production to storage to application to the soil, just plain animal smells that permeated the air.  Both kids would cover their noses and groan about how horible the whole area smelled.  Me, I just revelled and sighed about how much it reminded me of home.  My son grew up with the smells of construction and diesel fuel.  He loves the smell of working equipment.  The animals of my youth are something e could still do without.  We both love the smell of the woods for the memories we have of camping together. And so it goes

BTW: Ken, are you grading this?  [poke]
Tinker

 

[mouppe]

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.

 

[Tinker]

Richard, You make a good point.  Yes, I was told that might be the case.  I had a violent reaction way back in 1945 and was laid up for several days. (Interestinly, I had had an accident in the school wood shop while sanding a salad bowl.  Somebody played with the lathe speed and 1/3 of my bowl ended up trying to go thru my face.  My only serious accident in woodshop, but very memorable, non -theless) penecillin had only just come on the market for civilians.  I also found out many years later that i was allergic to bees, hornets and wasps.  They could have killed me.  I was desensitized with dead venom when that first came out.  That lasted for about a year or two before I ran face first into a White Face hornets nest.  A week later, I demolished a second one of same kind of hornet.  That almost killed me, except i was within a mile of my MD's office.  He then sent me for a new treatment with live bee/wasp/hornet venom.  I was on that treatment for five years.  That was over thirty years ago.  i have been stung since with nothing more than very minor swelling and itching.  Deer Flies affect me more now.  I am sure that I could probably be desensitized for Pennecilin, or maybe it has changed enough it would no longer bother me.  So far, i have had few incidents where i have needed antibiotics.  I am a fast healer I guess.  Besides, there are enough other antibiotics on the market now that there has always been a replacement for pennicilan. I think too many times antibiotics are issued too soon to a point we are finding super germs that are no longer affected by various antibiotics. Anyhow, I have managed for a good many moons without needing penicillin, so I am not too axious to try my luck.

Thanks for the tip anyhow. i think you are right on, but I'm kinda stubborn about some things I guess.
Tinker

 

[Bucko]

Hey Guys, what about pussy willow, I bet you have never heard of that on, huh ?. The timber that they used for toilet seats was called pussy 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 [big grin] [big grin] [big grin]

 

[Alan m]

i often use small amounts of different woods (oak,ash,mahogany (thats what they call it anyway) teak (same) walnut etc. but for some reason i like the smell in the workshop more when it is pine (probably some kind of white deal etc ). i hate the stuff but like the smell. makes the shop smell like a woodshop.

 

[nickao]

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

 

[RC]

Good old oak smells nice when it has tranferred from the barrel to my smokey single malt whisky [big grin]

 

[Stone Message]

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