These days, wood is considered to be an environmentally friendly, renewable and sustainable resource. This is as opposed to earlier, when cutting of trees for timber was an act of depleting forest reserves. This shift in perspective is due to changing practices in natural resource management, especially where wood is concerned. Forests are now grown cyclically in order to replenish the forest with the trees that are being cut down. Wood, therefore, has become a more viable product, rather than the complete no-no it once used to be. Importantly, the advantage of wood is that it is entirely biodegradable and natural. Using wood, now has a much lowered carbon footprint.

While buying timber, you would do well to keep in mind that wood colour changes, and not to get too attached to a particular shade. This happens chiefly due to exposure to sunlight, and also because of chemical reactions that occur in the wood itself. Sun bleaching makes wood take on a greyish hue. This greying is somewhat less in tropical woods because of their higher oil content. The grey layer can be removed, however, by planing, sanding or cutting. Upkeep of the wood will prevent wood-bleaching, as oils and resins have a restorative effect. Another change that occurs due to the drying effect of the sun is that, little surface cracks begin to appear. These are called “checks”, and appear when the wood dries quickly and unevenly. There is adequate advice on the maintenance of wood on the Country Woods blog.

Country Woods is in the process of getting in some new and exciting “pen and bowl blanks” ( a particular way in which the wood is turned) in a fresh assortment of new species like Canary wood, Caribbean Walnut, Chen Chen Rosewood, Granidillo, Red Heart, Snakewood, Wamara and Yellow Heart. Their warehouse is also the showroom, and they have a Cape Town, and a Johannesburg branch.

[b]About Country Woods:[/b]
Country Woods is a top-notch company of timber merchants. It is extremely reliable in terms of the quality of their products and the service it provides. They import timber from around the world and also stock African timber. They are always in search of new species of timber. So if you need updates, you have to keep track of their new arrivals on their website or Facebook page. To learn more about Country Woods, please visit: http://www.countrywoods.co.za/