What wood to turn?

[Zeal]

Hoping we can make this a really good thread to sticky for rookies such as myself.

I may have a potential wood source (meaning I don't need to pay, just can take what I want), however I personally only know basic Do's and Don'ts.

Regardless of what type of plug you want to make, what species of wood should be avoided? If my memory serves, Oak is the only notorious species that will make short work of our tools and if you happen to buy wood it should not be treated with any sort of chemicals.

Obviously, if a tree is downed by a storm and you want to take it home after sawing it up, it should not be rotten or full of termites. Is there any way you can tell the wood is not good if you cannot plainly see something wrong (i.e. the center is cracked)? Is there a minimum and/or maximum diameter the wood should be cut to put on the lathe?

If it is wet, is there any process to thoroughly dry it?

To start it off, I've gathered that Maple, Birch, Cedar, Poplar, Pine, Basswood, and Cherry are all good woods to use for plug making. Not sure about Hickory.