Different terms for wood defects, popping nail heads and stripped screw holes. The Wood Doctor answers these and other frequently asked questions.

Another name for the wood is African rosewood.

The Wood Doctor answers your questions.

Sometimes a veneer may have what is called buckle, wavy spots or warp – a general distortion of the sheet. This is most commonly caused by tension wood, irregular grain, and/or non-uniform drying.

Also called African teak, afrormosia has many positive properties, but the wood is overharvested.

What can you do to prevent or troubleshoot cracks in veneered and laminated products? Also a question about toxicity of walnut wood.

Distinctive stripes, often used for veneer.

The Wood Doctor also fields a question about yellow poplar that is very white.

Gluing panels, joining glass and metal to wood, all about wood density.

Two major spruces are found in the western forests of the United States. Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii) is found throughout the Rocky Mountains, from Alberta to Arizona. It’s named after George Englemann, who discovered this species in the mid-1800s. Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) is found primarily within 50 miles of the Pacific Coast, from Alaska to northern California. The name comes from Sitka Island, where the tree was discovered in 1892; Sitka spruce is also Alaska’s state tree.