Atlanta Custom Studio Furniture - the art of Fritz Wilhelm

I enjoy working with exotic and domestic hardwoods and incorporating their colors and grain figures into my design. For table tops and other large flat surfaces, most woods are used as veneers over veneer core hardwood plywood (VCP). This both ensures dimensional stability and reduces cost compared to solid wood. VCP is made from multiple layers of wood with the direction of the grain alternating at 90°. The veneer is cross-layered and bonded together by an adhesive. Because of the way in which VCP is constructed, it resists cracking, bending, warping, and shrinkage.

I use VCP from Columbia Forest Products of North Carolina. Their PureBond hardwood plywood is made using soy-based formaldehyde-free technology. You may visit their website, www.cfpwood.com/purebond.aspx, for more information.

Most trim and decorative embellishments are solid wood, as are legs and borders.

	Anigre, Aningeria spp. (also Anegre, Anagre) is from Africa. Anigre is popular for high-end furniture. Also see Quartered Anigre, below.
	African Rosewood, Pterocarpus erinaceus, is native to West Africa. It grows to between 30 and 40 feet tall. The color can vary from yellowish through rosy red and dark brown.
	Maple, Acer Saccharum, also called Rock maple is a light-colored hard wood. Birdseye Maple is not a specific species, but rather a grain pattern (bird’s eyes), which can occur in several species. It can occur in ash, mahogany, birch, and walnut. Its cause is unknown, and it has so far resisted cultivation. Although an experienced person may get clues to its existence from a tree’s bark, the only way to be certain is to cut the tree.
	Block Mottled Avodire, Turraeanthus africanus, is from Africa. Mostly straight-grained, the mottled figure is the most desirable.
	Makore, Tieghemella heckelii or Mimusops heckelii, is sometimes called African Cherry. It comes from Ghana, the Ivory Coast, and Cameroun in Africa. Makore grows to 200 ft tall, in high rain forests. It is very hard due to a high silica content, which causes early dulling of cutting tools. Block Mottled Makore is a particularly attractive grain pattern.
	Bubinga, Guibourtia demeusei, grows in both Africa and South America. In addition to furniture, it is used for harps, bass guitars, and drum shells. It has also been used as trim in some Lexus models.
	Cherry, also called American Cherry and Black Cherry, (Prunus serotina) comes primarily from the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern US. It also grows as far north as southern Quebec and as far south as central Florida. It is considered one of the premier woods for cabinetry.
	Curly Maple, like Birdseye Maple, is not a species, but a grain pattern. It is sometime called Fiddleback Maple. It is used in violins in addition to fine furniture.
	English Brown Oak, Quercus robur, grows in Europe and North Africa. It can grow to be more than 1000 years old. It was the primary wood used in the days of “wooden ships and iron men.”
	Hawaiian Koa, Acacia koa, is unique to the Hawaiian Islands. It was used by ancient islanders to build dugout canoes. Today, it is used in guitars and ukuleles as well as furniture.
	Jatoba, Hymenaea courbaril, is from Central and South America. It is sometimes called Brazilian Cherry. It is very hard, harder than oak.
	Lacewood, Cardwellia Sublimis, comes primarily from Australia, but also India. It can be expensive due to shipping costs.
	Macassar Ebony, Diospyros melanoxylon, is also known as Coromandel Ebony. It is native to Sri Lanka and India. Ebony can be a generic term for any heavy, dark wood. True ebony is so dense that it does not float.
	Movingui, Distemonanthus benthamianus, comes from western Africa. Is is very durable, and is widely used for flooring.
	Olive Ash Burl is a variety of European Ash (Fradnus Excelsior). Olive refers to the color, and Burl to the grain pattern. It can also be grey-white or brown-white.
	Padauk, Pterocarpus soyauxii (Africa), Pterocarpus macrocarpus (Burma), a reddish-colored wood, used in flooring and decorative handles for tools and knives. It is so red that it is a source for red dyes.
	Purpleheart, Peltogyne spp. refers to 23 species from Central and South America, where it is often used for outside stairs since it is resistant to decay.
	Quartered Anigre, Aningeria spp. (also Anigre, Anagre) is from Africa. Anigre is popular for high-end furniture. Quartered refers to the method of cutting the wood from the log. Rather than simply passing the log through parallel saw blades, a quartersawn log is first cut into quarters, which are then cut parallel. This produces a more consistent grain. Because quartersawing yields less wood from a log, the cost is higher.
	Santos Rosewood, Machaerium scleroxylon, is from Bolivia. It is also known as Morado and Palisander. It is popular for musical instruments due to its tonal qualities, and is one of a large number of woods known generally as tonewoods.
	Sapele, Entandrophragma cylindricum, grows in Africa, up to 150 ft high. It is used in musical instruments (guitars and ukuleles). It has also been used as interior trim on some Cadillac models. Sapele Pommele refers to a specific figure in the grain.
	Walnut, Juglans spp., is found almost world-wide. The genus name, Juglans, is derived from the Latin for Jupiter’s acorn, loosely meaning a nut fit for a god. Very versatile, almost all the tree can be used. In addition to lumber, the nuts are widely used, the oil from the nuts is used in salad dressing, the shells are used for cleaning and polishing, in oil well drilling, and as filler in dynamite. The husks from the shells are used to produce brown dyes.
	Wenge, Millettia laurentii, comes from central Africa. It is dark brown, with a distinctive grain. In addition to furniture, it is used in stairs and flooring due to its durability.