Wood ID

[alex carey]

Anyone know?

Picked it up from a friend, I haven't cut into it yet because it was too late at night but it looked really red, seems to have a lot of potential. I hope its not too blurry, if it is ill try again tomorrow.

It was hell to get down the steps into my backyard, weighted around 180, I was barely able to pick it up and walk with it.

[alex carey]

no replies...guess i need better pictures...

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I'm not certain Alex, but it could be Red Alder IMO, a common tree in the north west, and used a lot in furniture making, the piece you picture seems to have some ring shake in between the light and dark heartwood.
I did turn some a few years ago, turned just fine, it isn't very hard wood with fairly plain grain.

Though I might be quite wrong in the IDing here, as I'm certainly not familiar with all possible species that might grow in your area I'm sure ;)

[Jarrod McGehee]

Leo's going too far north. that stuff grows in oregon/washington. I'd guess mabe carob. That stuff is red kinda pink. turn it and lets try then. or cut it open.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Leo's going too far north. that stuff grows in oregon/washington. I'd guess mabe carob. That stuff is red kinda pink. turn it and lets try then. or cut it open.

Yup, Red Alder grows from N. Ca all the way into Alaska, but as I've said I'm not familiar with all the different trees, native and non-native that do grow there, also going up higher up from valley floors to top of the mountains the variety of species does change.

As for the color, it looks like the picture is quite red, so I was discounting somewhat the actual color shown, other than that it was just a "best fit" to the wood grain and bark shown and nowhere close to a certainty :D

[Bernie Weishapl]

I agree with Leo. It kinda reminds me of the piece I got from a friend in Washington state that he said was red alder.

[Reed Gray]

Wrong type of bark for alder. Bark reminds me of several types of pine, but can't really tell. Does it have any smell?
robo hippy

[alex carey]

hmmm, it does have a smell but I couldn't pin it to anything.

[Brian Novotny]

describing a smell is kinda like describing music.....when no ones heard the music......pretty hard to do. And with the bark again, bark is different depending on the age of a tree, it can be completely diferent among closely related species.....so unless it's completely unlike red alder bark, the bark of alder itself is not only a totally different tree, but even the leaves could be totally different. Look at Koa and Australian Blackwood. Both acacias, and the closest in the acacia family to one another, but the bark is extremely different. Tree identification is hard, but I learned that you have to look at the bigger picture, does it have red berries? does it have berries at all, are the leaves the same, no, but the only difference is that one has jagged edges. Is the wood similar (and IMO this is the MOST important), many common trees are also shrubs. Bark I think is the most misleading. As with many trees the bark on a young tree is completely different than the bark of a 100 year old tree. Just with standard Acacia, the bark starts off as thin and peeling to thick and coarse with age...if you're going to look at bark, age needs to be a factor, or if not, I wouldn't ID a tree just on the bark as with Darwinism (I believe in it) the same tree could have different bark in different areas of the world to protect it from disease...I'm just guessing. Like many trees that grow in fire country (california) have very thick barks as these are the ones that have survived the ages with all of the fires. I'm not so sure if that bark would be the same in Missouri. But, this is pretty much all my own opinion so "take it if you need it, or need it if you dare"... Is dawinism an opinion, or fact? I say fact as I was born without wisdom teeth and the chances of my off spring not having them is high.....now with the lack of wisdom teeth came the lack of wisdom:(...hust a bunch of unproven theories;)

[alex carey]

pshhh...darwinism :) I have two sets of wisdom teeth, had my first 4 removed about 18 months ago and now 4 more are coming in.

As far as the wood goes we'll see soon enough, my buddy found the wood so its his to turn, im just waiting from him to clear up some time in his schedule, I sure am excited for it though, can't wait to see whats on the inside.

[Sean Troy]

Looks like it could be African Sumac.

[Brian Novotny]

the funny thing about this wood is that the heartwood seems lighter than the heartwood.

[Christopher Fletcher]

I think you mean heartwood is lighter than the sapwood....may be the way the moisture is held in the heartwood. Optical illusion?

[Brian Novotny]

I think you mean heartwood is lighter than the sapwood....may be the way the moisture is held in the heartwood. Optical illusion?

nice catch. I have trouble fitting a square peq in a round hole.......it had something to do with growing up in the 90's........I'm (almost, but not really, ) a genious with some things and a complete retard when it comesx to others.......


to me, and I would check this out......it looks (again) like an acacia. Something about it reminds me of koa. The wood color is right, very right, not left. The hue of the color looks very "acacia family" to me. I wiill definitely tell you it's NOT Carob.....Carob ( a personal favorite) has a lighter color of red, with more of a white sapwood......now acacias, have brick red heartwood and sapwood.....from what I Know, and see above, I'm not the kind of guy that does every research before putting things like this out there, so I'm not easily affended, so tell me where I'm wrong. But if you bad talk my dog I can get outraged.......lol

ps at this time of night I think that the optical illusion theory may very well hold some weight. thanks for the heads up!;)

[alex carey]

i talked to the guy tonight, he said its a type of pear. starts with a C

[Brian Novotny]

oh, I must have replied to the wrong thread......alll of this id........it's kinda fun. I've never turned pear, and I see no checking, so it's probably going to be great. When my parents kick me out lets take down the olive tree..... has anyone turned tangerine? I can sneek pieces big enough to make mushrooms out of it.......it it's colorful......i heard mushrooms sell really fast and they're something you could sell at a phish show.

[Brian Novotny]

I don't think it's pear, I would say peach if the bark is very "silvery".....I noticed this walking thru my backyard.

[alex carey]

i didn't see an olive tree in your backyard??? It sure is nice stuff.