Help needed to ID wood type

[Randy Bonella]

I have this in general woodworking forum but no hits so moving the request here to see if you all can help out.

This will be my work bench at some point in time. Got the wood from a friend of mine which we thought was all Doug Fir. Looks like there is some of it that isn't. Because I'm in Oregon I'm thinking the stuff thats not DF is probably Alder. I haven't seen alder before other than for fire wood so not sure what I'm looking at. A couple of Pix here to help out with the ID. If it is not alder any clue to what it is? Planing this unknown wood type is ridiculously difficult! Time to sharpen the planes to see if that will help.

My friend buy's very large bundles of wood to burn for his green houses from a beam manufacturer for really cheap prices. Included in this many times are 8+/4 cutoffs that can be up to 16 ft long and 24" or more wide. We had to cut this to 10 ft lengths so I could haul it home. Milling this in my shop is a whole other story. I can't knock the price though... free.

One pic shows the ends. This unknown wood is on top another pic shows the color after I put a little Denatured Alcohol on it and the boards standing up are two fir before and after planing and the unknown wood type next to that. The big pile will be my workbench someday. I'm feeling the pain of not having one to build the bench in the first place.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Randy...

[Joe Close]

Where are the pics?

[Randy Bonella]

I got them to load on the thread in general woodworking and power tools titled "Wood ID help" but they won't link here. I'm so new to this board I haven't quite figured out how to move things around.:confused:

If you could take a look there I'd greatly appreciate it and or point me how to remove a thread from the board so I can repost.


Thanks,
Randy...

[Tristan Raymond]

I think Alder is redder. Could it be Maple that has a little spalting?

[Randy Bonella]

It certainly could be. Its just a strange color and I guess the spalting would change it a bit. That would also explain why it is so dang hard to plane. Now if I had a proper bench to plane on .... hmmm.... I guess not to mention that I need to spend some time sharpening.

Thanks for the input. I was going to use this as part of my leg lamination but I think I'll set it aside for something else for the time being.

Randy...

[Jim Koepke]

Here is a link to your original thread:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=123241

I have seen alder that color, but the rings are usually tighter. I also know the alder seems a bit soft. At least to me. It also does not seem to plane as smooth as other woods. The shaving is a bit tougher and I think the actual surface is kind of micro torn out. It is used for some things. It might make good legs or frame.

jim

[Jim Koepke]

BTW, if you need someone to haul it away for you, just send me a PM and I can pick it up next time I am down that way.

jim

[Dave Matson]

pacific yew?

[Randy Bonella]

Jim, while I appreciate the offer, I think I'll hold on to it for some other projects I have in mind :) Not often I get some decent wood at such a great price, free.

I might take a chunk to the next Oregon Woodworkers Guild meeting to see if anyone there has any other ideas. But more than likely this is is probably big leaf maple. Even though it is a bear to plane it leaves a very smooth surface. So much so I have a hard time holding onto the wood it is so slippery.

Next up: The work bench. I'm going to try a version of the Roubo from Christopher Schwarz book. Making it out of that pile-o Doug Fir.

Thanks for everyones inputs.

Randy...