While wood turning projects are of course made from wood, that is like saying bread is made of flour without knowing if it is wheat, rye or multigrain.
Wood varies tremendously and what is good for one project may not be good for another.
Her are seven things to look for when choosing wood for your project at the wood lathe.
First of all, most woodturners work exclusively with hardwoods but you should not eliminate softwoods from your repertoire.
The beauty of a violin, cello or guitar top is usually spruce so there is a lot of beauty in softwoods.
They are also strong enough to build houses from, using simple butt joints.
In addition, most softwoods will challenge you to use very sharp tools and precise cuts to avoid splintering and torn grain, thus being excellent teaching aids.
Second, look the orientation of the grain.
For strength the grain should run straight and strong.
This can be of particular importance in structural items such as chair rails or in stress items such as spatulas and spirtles.
While the problem may not be as great in faceplate turning as in spindle, the wood will move in the direction of the grain so in most faceplate turnings the grain should end in being parallel to the ground when the piece is sitting.
Otherwise there will likely be a very lopsided bowl.
Third, woods come in various weights per cubic foot.
One has only to think of balsa wood versus rosewood to be assured of this.
Generally strength is proportional to the weight but grain will also affect this.
A finished project should reflect a good weight to thickness ratio and wood can be chosen accordingly.
Fourth is the influence of functional or decorative perception of the piece.
Functional pieces require wood that meets the function.
Tight grained woods like maple are usually better selections for food items than open grains like oak.
Decorative items on the other hand call generally for distinctive grain that make the piece stand out.
On the other hand the important point of the turning may be the finished shape and a dramatic grain will detract from it.
Some grain that looks good in large pieces is lost in small and grain will need to be selected for the size of the piece.
Fifth is the availability of the wood itself.
Some woods will be prohibitively expensive in some area and others will be free for the asking.
Many woods find themselves destined for the fireplace or the landfill and can be great assets for the woodturner.
Still others are in danger of overuse and should be avoided for the sake of the environment.
A sixth consideration is the use of dry or green wood for the project.
In general green wood cuts faster, cooler and cleaner than dry wood.
For learning purposes it is almost ideal.
On the other hand it distorts and splits as it drys.
To get wood for faceplate turning in reasonable sizes, it is almost mandatory to use green wood and dry the turned piece either before of after finish turning, depending on desired result.
Seventh is of course to use whatever wood happens to be in the shop and will likely be reasonable for the project.
Two sayings of woodturners are of help here.
One is that life is too short to turn ugly wood and second is that the best wood to turn is free wood.
Whatever the criterion used to choose the wood, the fun is still in the turning.