what is your favorite smell of wood?

[scrollin'fool]

one of the most rewarding perks of scroll-sawing is the smell of freshly sawed wood.

many woods smell good to me, but I am wondering, what is YOUR favorite smell of wood?  with so many experienced soul-scrawlers here, some of you might have experienced some delicious smell from some wood I dont know about.

 

so far in my life, I'd have to say Cedar smells best.

 

Edited August 3, 2017 by scrollin'fool

[RangerJay]

That is a tough one.

You're right - cedar is a hard one to beat - we built a sauna into the garage over 20 years ago (at the expense of workshop space .....) - the smell of the cedar has never faded and continues to welcome us to that room every time we go in.

Pine and walnut are both woods I look forward to cutting because of the wood smell they give the workshop.

But one of the oldest and most "family" smells comes from fresh cut fir - when I was a young kid my grandfather used a lot of fir and fir plywood in his workshop and to this day I cannot cut a piece of fir without thinking of him - have to admit that I don't seek out fir as a species but do get the odd piece when recycling an old cupboard or come across some used lumber.

 

Jay

[WayneMahler]

Cedar has a great smell when cutting I'll have to agree on that. For me though, I would have to Black Cherry is on the top of the list. That would be followed by some Sugar Maple with the smell of maple syrup in the air. Although it does make you hungry :). 

[Grumpy Old Bear]

Cutting through a knot in pine is very pleasant to my nose.  Another smelly wood is Lignum Vitae. This wood takes some getting used to, though.

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

oak Love walking by a freshly cut down oak tree. 

Edited August 5, 2017 by JTTHECLOCKMAN

[zimmerstutzen]

when turning sassafrass, the shop gets a faint smell like cloves, reminds me of Christmas.

[Scrappile]

Camphor wood smell is awesome and clears the sinuses,  Olive wood is great, I love the smell of Cocobolo wood, but it makes my eyes water and nose run. 

Edited August 4, 2017 by Scrappile

[Wooden Lace]

I agree with Wayne that maple smells good, and toasted maple is even better, with a much stronger syrup smell.  Makes me want a glass of milk.  Sure better than the worst for me, which is teak.  It smells like cow manure!

[MTCowpoke22]

Juniper, while being a pretty stinky bush, has a wonderful aroma when you cut into it.

[dgman]

My favorite smell of cutting is Mahogany.

[JOE_M]

Cherry is nice - smells like Swisher Sweets without the cancer. Most of the rosewoods smell like a well-perfumed old lady. Walnut has a nice smell but it's no cherry.

On the other side, I've cut some nasty smelling exotics. One light-colored wood, maybe guatambu, not yellowheart or satinwood, made the shop smell like cat urine until I'd vacuumed up all the sawdust. And I got some dark wood from woodworker's source (fake walnut?) that came from latin/south America and it smelled like gasoline when I cut it.

 

 

[amazingkevin]

8 hours ago, Wooden Lace said:

I agree with Wayne that maple smells good, and toasted maple is even better, with a much stronger syrup smell.  Makes me want a glass of milk.  Sure better than the worst for me, which is teak.  It smells like cow manure!

Teak reminds me of the smell of pee.

[amazingkevin]

13 hours ago, scrollin'fool said:

one of the most rewarding perks of scroll-sawing is the smell of freshly sawed wood.

many woods smell good to me, but I am wondering, what is YOUR favorite smell of wood?  with so many experienced soul-scrawlers here, some of you might have experienced some delicious smell from some wood I dont know about.

 

so far in my life, I'd have to say Cedar smells best.

 

aromatic red cedar For me i rarely get exotic woods to try.

[kywoodmaster]

I agree on the aromatic Cedar. I also like the smell of Osage Orange and Catalpa.

[Paladin]

cedar drives my nose crazy.

but i love the smell of cutting walnut

 

Steve

[Rolf]

Bloodwood. I have been cutting and turning some Sycamore and that makes my shop smell like a barn yard.

[jbrowning]

I love the smell of walnut.

[poupster2]

Red cedar is at the top there but also Poplar.  Poplar has a very distinct sweet smell that is not at sweet as sugar maple but sweet enough to recognize it from a mile away!

[Karl S]

Olive and sassafras

[Woodmaster1]

Sassafras and red cedar are my favorites. I don't get sassafras very often but plenty of red cedar.

[hawkeye10]

I like the sweet smell of alder.

[Dan]

Cherry

Sassafras

Walnut

[stoney]

I would have to say from the woods I have worked with cedar is probably my favorite.  The worst smelling woods I have ever encountered would have to be green swamp elm or green swamp black oak. 

[wombatie]

Camphor Laurel.  Great if you have a cold too, helps you breathe.

Marg

[Fish]

 Western Red Cedar and Walnut