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walnut, cherry, and sugar maple: great ice cream flavors on their own, but also my favorite hardwoods. i've got a number of full sized billets of each headed here to my shop, as well as red and white oak, hickory, and butternut (i swear i dont pick my materials based on what sort of imaginary desserts they would make). they are all coming from sustainable, independent sources in wisconsin, indiana, and pennsylvania. i am particularly excited about the lumber on it way from pennsylvania, which is coming from a small milling operation that i have never worked with before.

after the stock of exotic hardwoods i have runs out, i am gong to make a concerted effort to only build with native species. even though its already too late to save the planet, i have reservations about the supply lines for some of the fancier african and asian hardwoods, regardless of claims that they have been harvested in accordance with CITES.