Janka wood hardness scale - photo

[IntheGroove]

I don't have much to do with most of those woods other than the mahogany and teak as I am in the wooden boat business but I do have a small piece of jarrah. A client of mine bought a lake front property and wanted to it right. He bought a 200 year old house in Boston that had floors of jarrah. He had the wood nicely removed and shipped here. After it was delivered, he told the carpenters the story and said he wanted none of that wood leaving the jobsite. By the end of that day every guy had a piece in his nail bag. Because the wood is almost fireproof, those guys were using it to make devices to smoke what then was illegal...