Fixite7 has one very dense wood that is well known in my area. boisD'arc (osage orange). My great great Grand Father purchased 3 sections of land in south central Arkansas starting in 1849 and planted boisD'arc for fences. The community became known as BoisD'arc and is known by that name today among locals. It's one of the densest woods in the USA. It's also beautiful wood. Another off the beaten path excellent, dense wood is persimmon, it's in the ebony family. There used to be a mill in Brinkley Arkansas that paid crazy money for persimmon, it was used for golf club heads. That buslness died out years ago but if you can find a source, it's another beautiful, very hard wood that'll last just short of forever.
All that said, if I didn't want to go with a North American exoitic, I'd use white oak or post oak and not look back.
RonR
