On Sat, 12 Oct 2013 09:17:57 -0700, scritch wrote:

Most of the wood in the bits I have is redwood, which was cheap and
plentiful in the San Francisco region then. Not now, though! Besides, I
live in Seattle, and virgin redwood compares to tropical hardwoods in
availability and price.

I could use Douglas fir (I have a bunch of old growth VG fir salvage),
but was this wood generally available and cheap in San Francisco then?
Or were other types of pine more generally available?

I think redwood would be much to soft. Even clamping the tool rest banjo
to it would dent it. Old growth fir would be much better, especially if
you have some that is quarter-sawn.

Ponderosa pine might be more historically accurate (a guess), but if you
want to actually use the lathe, the fir is better.