What color is this wood. Some photos make this look like black walnut, but in other photos it is reddish in color. The walnut brown color has been overdone, and the reddish wood looks nicer and more unique to me. But I see no way to ensure that's the color I get from the order page.
Great question! So the reason for this is twofold. First we have lighting conditions, which brings out different tones of the wood (the photos on the websites are of 2-3 different units). The second is the cut of the wood and the wood grain itself. I've noticed three major variants in how the units turn out:
- Dark and muted
- Reddish brown
- Highly chatoyant and very streaky
On top of these three major variations, you'll also sometimes get a mix where the board goes from dark to reddish, with or without chatoyant streaks, for example. This just boils down to the chaotic nature of acacia and the way it grows and forms its wood grain :D
On my end, after machining is done and I have to pick a wrist rest to match the case, I often pick one that gels the best with the vibe of the case. Some cases end up with a gradient and so slapping a wrist rest that is a solid colour instead of itself having a gradient then wouldn't make sense, for example, but after mixing and matching wrist rests with cases I have noticed that some pair together better than other combinations.
When it comes to wood grains there's no consensus on which of these variants is "prettier" or "better", as that does ultimately boil down to personal preference. I've brought the same batch of 5 prototype units out and showed various people and they've all picked different ones as their "favourite" with no single variant being a clear winner or preferred option. Some people prefer the plain nature of the dark and muted while others prefer the wild streaks and flashiness of chatoyancy, it really depends.
That said, if you'd like to support the project but are concerned about how your unit "wood" end up looking, please feel free to drop me a DM (here or on discord) and I'd be happy to help selecting a unit which matches your colour/variation preferences!