What kind of wood is this?

[Danny Thompson]

Two trunk pieces harvested from a farm in central AL.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=108963&d=1233721160


http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=108965&d=1233721176

[John Keeton]

Quick guess so I can be the first wrong post - spalted maple.

[Ron Jones near Indy]

Better guess again John. I think you have it.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Does that spalting go clear through?

[Danny Thompson]

Good question, Steve.

I flipped them over and found less spalting and another surprise (second and third pic):

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=109091&stc=1&d=1233805664

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=109092&stc=1&d=1233805664

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=109093&stc=1&d=1233805664

What do you think?

[Steve Rozmiarek]

I'm not a turner type, but those get me thinking of a nice lathe made something... Sure do have some interesting feature indicators there at least:D

[Douglas Brummett]

I'm gonna have to go with fire wood :)

... someone had to say it

Some nice wood there, I just don't personally have big enough equipment to harvest it. I guess you could have a go at it with a chainsaw if you have a steady hand and patience (oh and a chainsaw of course).

[Danny Thompson]

Funny!

The current plan is to strip the bark, clean them, sand and finish to make natural end tables. (Any suggestion about how to make that happen will be appreciated.)

On the other hand, with the given clues that something exciting may be inside there, I may slice the sides with the bandsaw to reveal some of the figure.

And you are right, we harvested them to this point with a 22" chain saw.

[george wilson]

Here's some good advice: Be careful of turning spalted wood. A lot is turned,but wear protection so you don't get fungus in your sinuses and lungs,because that's what it is. Helps to turn it green,but do protect yourself. Thet wood is starting to rot. Even burning such wood in a stove is bad. gets in the air. So,I wouldn't even go with firewood.

[Chris Padilla]

~*drool*~ bandsaw that puppy...let's see some long-grain figure!! :) :D

[Russ Sears]

The bark looks like sugar maple to me. Those growth rings seem incredibly regular though. If I just saw the end grain, I would've guessed some kind of softwood. On the other hand, the rings are very narrow....so....(shrugs shoulders)

[Cody Colston]

I think it's Elm. What little of the bark I can see looks like Elm and it also spalts like that pretty quickly.

[Russ Sears]

I didn't consider Elm. I still think it's Maple but you could be right. Danny, if you crosscut a hunk of bark, does it have layers? American Elm has alternating reddish and whitish layers kind of like a layer cake. We have Slippery Elm around here and that also has layered bark but the layers are the same, reddish color.

[Phil Green]

Cody probably has it right. But to be honest, it's anybody's guess. To do it right you really need to get a good piece of end grain, a magnifier and Bruce Hoadley's book. Even then, it is not easy.

Phil

[Danny Thompson]

Here is a closeup of the bark pretty much from all sides. Are these the kind of layers you were talking about, Russ?

[Russ Sears]

Thanks Danny. The layers are not there. The picture on the right is the view I was looking for. I'll see if I can come up with a picture of elm bark layers but it's "off to work" right now.