I started making fids for my son when he joined the US Navy in Oct. 2008. He gave some of the fids to his shipmates. My first fids were made using three types of domestic hardwoods Pecan, Cherry, and Black Walnut. Fids are used in the navy to splice line/rope.

I found a couple of sites on the web selling exotic hardwoods. I bought a combo deal with 15 different species of hardwoods.  The fids I have made from the exotic hardwoods are very nice.