A significant problem with using Woodfinder is that many vendors are listed for woods that, upon further investigation, they do not offer. I don’t know if perhaps once they did and they didn’t update their listings or if some vendors use a standardized list of woods that include most everything conceivable with the idea that once you land on their page you will find something you want to buy even if you didn’t know it beforehand. It happens to me all the time!
Uses
Some sources note that wood from fruit bearing cherry trees, potentially including the Queen Anne, is used for wood turning, cabinetry, and musical instrument making. The wood is also used for smoking meats, to which it imparts a distinctive and pleasant flavor. Otherwise, the chief use of such trees is the cultivation and harvest of their quite valuable and popular fruits.
Queen Anne Cherry Interior
Sustainability
As a commonly cultivated type of tree it is unlikely that the Queen Anne cherry, nor other types of the same species, will likely find themselves in any danger of extinction or overharvesting.
Queen Anne Cherry is not listed as being in any way threatened or endangered by the Convention in International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendices nor does it appear on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
To the best of my knowledge, Queen Anne Cherry is not subject to any special restrictions by any United States government agency.
I realize that inherent in working with wood is the killing of a part of the natural world that may be slow to return and if I become deeply concerned about this fact, I will have to find a new hobby. I hope that such a time does not come to pass or at least not any time soon. In part because I am concerned about legally and responsibly obtained wood, I am reluctant to buy from sellers outside of well-established and known vendors. I am highly unlikely, for example, to purchase any wood from auction sites, such as Ebay, because of uncertain sourcing and documentation, as well as the potential, even likelihood, of material being misidentified in order to achieve a higher selling price.
However, due to the commercial scarcity of some domestic woods, resorting to auction sites such as Ebay or Etsy may be the only way to obtain some desirable domestic, or in some cases exotic imported, species that are not routinely commercially harvested. The potential risks of buying in these marketplaces have to be balanced against the desire to work with a specific species of wood. That is inherently an individual decision.
I also realize that many, if not most, wood workers do not have endangered species lists memorized, therefore I think it worthwhile and important to do even a small amount of research before purchasing any lumber, domestic as well as imported, to be certain of the potential impact you are having, even in a small way, on threatened or endangered populations. This information is easy to come by and takes only minutes to locate through any Internet search engine, including those you can access on your phone as you are standing in the lumber yard or store. Unfortunately, you simply cannot count on a vendor to tell you a product they are selling is endangered.
Health Hazards
No specific adverse health reactions have been noted with or attributed to Queen Anne Cherry.
However, the long-term negative effects of exposure to sawdust of any species are well documented.
It is important to remember that although many people may, or may not, be sensitive to any given wood the only experience that truly counts is your own, so use reported side effects as guidance but not as a substitute for cautious and safe practices. Despite a lack of reported major health effects, turning a bowl blank of Timborana (Piptadenia spp.) almost killed me through immediate respiratory distress followed by a multiple week long illness, and my father experienced a violent skin reaction to Australian Silky Oak (Cardwellia sublimis or Grevillea robusta) so caution is ALWAYS warranted.