As a newer guy, I definitely appreciate the these build threads and the information that comes to light in them.

One of the things that's really hard for me to understand is how wood will actually look based on the variations I have seen within each type. Its why I vote micarta a lot. I know that some grades of wood are marked presentation, and its pretty clear that anything will burl will have character, but it seems like wood will give a wide range of results, even within the same type.

I remember looking at all the nice woods the Captain offered up in the CC build, and in particular the spalted pecan that was selected came out even more awesome than I thought it would.

When ordering with wood, even special supplied wood, does everyone just hope for the best?