I do love the smell of cherry, which smells like cherries. Apple doesn't smell like apples, but has kind of a yeast type scent. Myrtle/California Bay Laurel tends to smell kind of like a sweet bar b que sauce. Some maple can smell kind of yeast like as well. Some maple, if it is getting old smells sour, and that smell never seems to go away. I had some chinkapin, local ever green nut, aka golden chestnut that was 100 years old and kind of smelled like a whiskey barrel. Cottonwood smells like some one threw up. Sassafras has a wonderful rootbeer type smell. I had some butternut once and it smelled like vinegar, but not in a bad way. Some of the oaks smell like that as well. Can't turn walnut any more as it bothers me, and the Persian (what most call English walnut) doesn't smell quite as strong. Cedar and redwood are nice, but it is another wood that you will eventually react to, and for me, it is too soft. My favorite wood to turn is Pacific Madrone, which pretty much has no scent to it. The little sugar ants seem to love it and I have a sticky crust on me when I am done turning for the day. Been a while since I turned Osage, but the smell of it reminded me of car tires. Mountain Mahogany is a nice wood, and I can't really describe the smell, but it would be great for smoking on the bbque. I did have one piece of camphor and it vanished in my shop some where.... I had some catalpa once, and it has kind of a sweet smell to it, but not one that I liked at all. Mimosa/silk tree has a strange scent, but I react to it as well, so no more.
robo hippy