Hi, Richard, Limewood is European Basswood, a Tilia as with N.Am. The ornamental trees I've seen planted around have smaller leaves than the native US ones, though possibly they're still another sub species: leaves dark green, sort of shiny, smooth edges (or something like that). Wolfendon writes that it was favored for key sticks until stocks were diminished where splitting logs was discarded in favor of sawing, after which warping became a problem and other species used. Well, maybe in Europe, still, the antique Lime key sets in my shop seem better than Basswood. My experience is that Basswood - a hardwood - is softer, less stiff, harder to machine cleanly and more unstable but much cheaper than Sugar Pine or "instrument quality" Spruce. As for Basswood, I think it's also called whitewood. Little or no figure or color although lumber can be a little coarse (fuzzy). It's lightweight and (a little too) easy to carve, accepts stain readily - a favorite for small goods and hobby items. Crap for keys, IMO, but fine for reed organ coupling levers, hoppers or jacks. Like in two-piece Chickering ones. Clark
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