Wood Species

Kahle’s purchases the most select grade of cherry hardwood available. Cherry is a medium density wood with a fine, straight grain. Narrow brown pith flecks and small gum pockets are found in this specie and not considered a defect. Cherry’s color varies from a rich red to a reddish-brown, and the color will darken considerably with age and exposure to light. Cherry has been rated a favorite among cabinetmakers for years because of its beauty and versatility.

Its unique color variation makes hickory distinct from other species. The extreme contrast between its tan or reddish-brown heartwood and it’s white to cream colored sapwood coupled with naturally occurring mineral marks exhibit hickory’s rustic characteristics beautifully when finished natural or with light colored stains. Hickory is also the hardest, heaviest, strongest American wood, making it a durable favorite in today’s cabinet industry.

Our hard maple is premium with respect to both quality and color. The preferred white-colored stock is hand selected from the sapwood of the tree. Hard maple, also known as sugar maple, is generally straight grained but can sometimes show curly or wavy figure. The fine, uniform texture of maple is showcased best on natural or light colored stains. Hard maple’s flexibility allows it to be used for furniture, flooring, cutting surfaces, and even bowling pins.

During the early 20th Century, Quarter-Sawn White Oak became one of the hallmarks of the Arts & Crafts style. Quarter sawing means cutting at a 90-degree angle from the growth rings on a log to produce a vertical and uniform pattern grain. The grain on the face of a quarter-sawn board will be parallel lines that are straight, tight and run the length of the board making it very stable. Expansion and contraction across the face of the boards when exposed to temperature and humidity fluctuations is much less than plain sawn lumber. Quarter-Sawn cabinetry’s radiating elegance and traditional beauty allow you to incorporate a timeless classic into your own home.

Red Oak, one of the country’s most abundant and preferred hardwoods, is most often straight grained and open pored. The heartwood of the tree is where the favored color, brown with a tinge of red or pink, is found. Red Oak’s structure allows stains to penetrate into the pores making the graining more prevalent especially on darker stains.

Kahles’s rustic cherry, unlike our select cherry, displays many of the naturally occurring characteristics of the species. The color of rustic cherry will range from the white sapwood to the dark reddish-brown heartwood. Defects such as knots, split knots, gum streaks, splits, pits, bird pecking, worm holes, etc. are considered desirable in this grade and are acceptable. The frequency and type of defects which occur naturally are completely random so no guarantee can be made as the the extent or array of rustic qualities present in any given piece.