Tropical Wood Sample Kits
Several purchasers of our popular domestic hardwood sample kit have requested that we put together a similar kit of tropical woods. In response, we now offer a kit containing many of the more commonly encountered, and a few not so common, tropical woods.
The Firewood Treasures Tropical Wood Sample Kit contains a 16x hand lens, a starter supply of single-edged razor blades, and our popular Wood Identification Primer, that shows you how to identify wood by end-grain analysis.
As with our other kits, the samples average 1/4" x 1" x 1." This is not a "showcase" sample kit. It is designed for the practical woodworker who needs authentic samples for comparison. Our samples are intended to be cut, not just looked at. Only by producing a clean, razor-cut end-grain surface can you reveal the unique characteristics of different woods and thus gain the assistance you need for identification and comparison purposes. Tropical woods are particularly difficult to identify and authentic samples are essential to the process.
To obtain a "showcase" kit with the same number of samples, you would have to pay well over $200! And you wouldn't get a 16x loupe or our popular Wood Identification Primer that teaches you the correct way to identify wood samples.
Tropical Wood Identification Kits
Tropical Wood Sample Kit #5 (with 16x loupe) $68.00
If you already have a high quality loupe, then order the kit without a magnifier.
Note: a standard hand magnifying glass is not a good substitute for
an eye loupe.
Tropical Wood Sample Kit #3 (without magnifier) $54.00
Extra loupe:
MG-16x 16x loupe $20.00
Extra Razor Blades:
SRB-20 Single-Edged Razor Blades (20) $6.00
List of tropical wood samples in kit*:
| Name | Genus species | |
| 1 | African Blackwood (Mpingo) | Dalbergia melanoxylon |
| 2 | Anigre | Aningeria altissima |
| 3 | Balsa wood | Ochroma pyramidale |
| 4 | Bloodwood (Brazilian) | Brosimum rubescens |
| 5 | Bokote | Cordia sp. |
| 6 | Bubinga | Guibourtia demeusei |
| 7 | Canarywood | Centrolobium microchaete |
| 8 | Cocobola | Dalbergia retusa |
| 9 | Dark red Meranti (red lauan) | Shorea sp. |
| 10 | Ebony | Diospyrus crassiflora |
| 11 | Ipe | Tabebuia guayacan |
| 12 | Iroko | Chlorophora excelsa |
| 13 | Jatoba (Brazilian cherry) | Hymenaea courbaril |
| 14 | Kempas | Koompassia malaccensis |
| 15 | Keruing | Dipterocarpus spp. |
| 16 | Kingwood | Dalbergia Cearensis |
| 17 | Leadwood | Combretum imberbe |
| 18 | Leopardwood | Roupala brasiliensis |
| 19 | Light red Meranti (white lauan) | Shorea sp. |
| 20 | Lignum Vitae | Guaiacum officinale |
| 21 | Mahogany (African) | Khaya ivorensis |
| 22 | Mahogany (Honduran) | Swietenia macrophylla |
| 23 | Olive | Olea hochstetteri |
| 24 | Padauk | Pterocarpus soyauxii |
| 25 | Paulownia | Paulownia tomentosa |
| 26 | Pernambuco | Caesalpinia echinata |
| 27 | Pink Ivory | Rhamnus zeyheri |
| 28 | Purpleheart (Amaranth) | Peltogyne sp. |
| 29 | Redheart (Chakte Kok) | Sickingia salvadorensis |
| 30 | Rimu | Dacrydium cupressinum |
| 31 | Rosewood (Bolivian) | Machaerium schleroxylon |
| 32 | Spanish cedar | Cedrela odorata |
| 33 | Tambotie | Spyrostachus africana |
| 34 | Teak | Tectona grandis |
| 35 | Tigerwood (Brazilian Koa, Goncalo Alves) | Astronium fraxinifolium |
| 36 | Tulipwood | Dalbergia frutenscens |
| 37 | Wenge | Millettia laurentii |
| 38 | Yellowheart | Euxylophora paraensis |
| 39 | Zebrawood | Microberlinia brazzavillensis |
| 40 | Ziricote | Cordia dodecandra |
*Specific species (Genus species) may vary somewhat depending upon the source of the particular wood; sp. means one of several possible species of the given genus..
NOTE: When you receive your kit, each sample will be numbered, but in case you want to try your hand at identifying the samples first, the sample numbers will not correspond to those listed above. Included with your kit will be a second list, the key, in a sealed envelop.
For those who want detailed information on how to identify tropical
wood samples, we strongly recommend that you consider purchasing R. Bruce
Hoadley's Identifying Wood, available on line from amazon.com.
And we encourage you to explore www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics.
It has an incredible number of detailed end-grain analysis pictures. Unfortunately
they're sanded, not razor cut, but these plus authentic samples will greatly
aid you in identification.
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$20 , $10, $5, $2, $1
Rick Smith is a member of the International
Wood Collecting Society 