Hard maple or pecan, preferably quarter-sawn. Hickory is a little more open-pored than pecan but also wouldn't be bad quarter-sawn. Locust would be plenty hard enough by the numbers.
Steve S.
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Tradition cannot be inherited, and if you want it you must obtain it by great labour.
- T. S. Eliot
Thought I'd follow up on this thread now that the threshold is done. I ended up going with curly hard maple, just because it matches everything else best (maple vanity and curly maple mirror frame that I'm working on). I'm pretty happy with the result.
Since the carpet side is a bit lower than the tile, I had asked the carpet repair company (they were coming to patch the carpet where I removed walls during the remodel) about installing a 3/8" ramp under the carpet to lift it a bit. They recommended against that (although they may just not have wanted to deal with it) because they thought the track strips wouldn't attach correctly. I was fine with the fit without the ramp, so I didn't push it.
I beveled the carpet side (20° bevel) decently heavily due to the lower carpet. I put a small matching bevel on the tile side.
I agree with Alandy. Hard maple meets all the criteria. My personal preference would lean towards a transitional piece not attracting any attention. Sometimes less is more and you already have the tile and carpet there. Now, a third medium will be used along side these too. No reason to make this a focal point or "too busy"--it's a thin "T" piece. I made my own to transition between tile and Brazilian cherry and the obvious choice was of course BC. I made mine as small and thin as possible for an attempted seamless transition.
The honey locust I've used is an array of colors. Pinks, red, yellows, creams. Hard as heck though but a utility wood in my mind. I would find a wood that blends as well as possible with both the carpet and tile. I wouldn't rule out a metal transition piece either.
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