Made my first trip to my local Woodcraft today!

[Dreklie]

So I am a beginner woodworker (for about 2 months now) and figured it was time to graduate from pine, oak, poplar, and random plywood to something a bit more interesting. I picked up a few board feet of Bubinga, Basswood (do not like it at all ... super super soft), and my absolute favorite ... Walnut.

Walnut is absolutely gorgeous, works well, clear coats look amazing, and it's just a great, great wood. The Bubinga was VERY difficult to work with as a beginner, very thick, very heavy, and very, VERY hard. I was afraid my scroll blade was going to over heat and snap so I would take breaks every minute or so. The Bubinga was 4/4 thickness so that may have contributed to it.

Any suggestions on lumber that is like Walnut? Was also looking for some lumber that goes well with Walnut, I think the most obvious is Maple (or Basswood - which I thought would go well with it but it is just far too soft and I do not enjoy it at all).

[don in brooklin on]

Firstly, Woodcraft is usually a very expensive source for wood unless on sale.  Where are you located?  Someone here maybe able to direct you to a local supplier or mill.

For hardwood, have used walnut, (especially Peruvian if I can get), African Mahogany, Maple, Cherry and Popular.

It all depends on the type of work you are doing.

Also, some blades are better that other on hardwood.  I usually use Flying Dutchman Ultra Reverse for 90% of the work but I do use Polar blade on something the is real hard like Purple Heart. 

[Bill Wilson]

I think sassafras goes nicely with walnut and it is very easy to cut.  Smells great in the shop too!  I don't know if Woodcraft carries it, but it's worth looking for.  Ash looks nice with walnut as well, but may be getting harder to come by, due to the Emerald Ash Borer infestation.   Like Don, I also like African mahogany and cherry.  Cherry has a tendency to burn, so make sure you keep a sharp blade in the saw.  Both of these woods will darken with age and exposure to UV light, so if you use them as contrasting woods with walnut, in a few years the contrast won't be as great.

[julief]

Walnut is my absolute favorite wood to cut and it polishes up so nice.  As far as ease, poplar is almost as nice to cut.  You have to look around, but poplar can come in colors from very light to green to dark.  Maple is a beautiful contrast and you can get some very interesting grain patterns as well as almost none.  Find a lumber yard that will let you look at the boards.  Often, they will let you have just a cut off instead of having to buy the whole board depending on what length they have available.  It takes some time but is well worth the effort if you have a special project in mind.