Is this cherry?

[Dan Lawson]

I picked up 100 bf of this lumber and have since planed it to get a better look at it. I think it's cherry, but I'm a relative newbee. Just want to be sure from the experts here before I start on a major build of a reproduction of my old antique english chest of drawers with some of them hidden (with locking mechanisms).

Anyhow I digress. I assume this is cherry but let me know if otherwise.

Thanks, Dan

[Chip Lindley]

Yep, Dan, looks like cherry to me! (from this distance) Plain-sawn cherry has grain very similar to hard maple, yet is redder and softer than maple. Show us the chest when you finish it!! No pix, it Never Happened!

[Kevin Barnett]

I doesn't look like any of my cherry. Mine usually starts out pink and goes to brown. What you have there doesn't match.

[Tad Capar]

Perhaps the reason for the split decision so far is the fact that there are more than just a cheery wood out there.
To me, this dose not look like a black cherry, would this be a wild cherry?
It would help to know where was it was grown.

[Glen Butler]

I does not appear to be cherry to me either. The color is a little off. And the grain is not right either. Confirm the color is accurate and that will help. You have 100 bd ft there. Is there any of it that turns white (sap wood) with a greenish tinge between the red and white. That could be a good indicator that its cherry.

[Kent A Bathurst]

[QUOTE=Glen Butler;1337049]I does not appear to be cherry to me either. The color is a little off. And the grain is not right either.QUOTE]

Doesn't look like my cherry, either - especially the grain -but can't guarantee one way or the other. Could you take a small chunk to a hardwood store to compare/ask?

[Tony Shea]

I'm not sure that it's cherry either. Does it seem heavy like cherry? A couple of those peices almost kinda have oak look to them. But it can be very difficuly to ID a wood just by some pictures. I usually have to hold it my hands to get a feel of weight, grain, density, etc when I try to ID an unknown wood. Even then it can be difficult in some cases.

[Leo Graywacz]

I don't think it looks like cherry either, but it is very tough to tell with pics. Your colors could be off and the fine detail of the grain is not showing.

Some of it looks like it might be Alder, which has a very similar grain pattern to cherry but the fine grain is much more coarse.

Like some of the guys said, is there any sap wood on it, it would be a creamy white. When you freshly plane cherry there are multitudes of varying colors ranging from pink, yellow red, red red, green red. Cherry will also have some small almost knots in some of the boards.

Alder is sometimes called poor mans cherry.

[Dan Lawson]

All of this was picked up in Wisconsin and likely locally grown. It was stored in someones barn (was a boat builder). Color is accuarate as I shot a neutral grey background and color corrected. It's not oak, and seems half the weight as I milled a bunch of oak this past summer, and the weight difference is noticable. Hmmmmmmmmm.

[Paul Ryan]

That doesn't look like the cherry I picked up yesterday. It could be red elm.

[Chip Lindley]

Ok, I'm wayy outnumbered here. (I said, from this distance...) Alder is a possibility. So is gum. If it is red elm, the test would be in trying to split a board in half with an axe. If it will not tear apart without tenacious strings of fiber holding on, it's elm!

[Tony Bilello]

Looks like a softwood to me. Not sure which one though.

I will bet it is definitely not cherry.

Hope you didnt pay too much for it.

[Elijah Fontenot]

Looks just like some new growth cypress to me, however if its locally grown up north it might not be that. Down here i guess it could've been a possibility.

[David Christopher]

also looks like some western cedar that I have


cut a piece and see what it smells like

[Glen Butler]

Ok, I'm wayy outnumbered here. (I said, from this distance...) Alder is a possibility. So is gum. If it is red elm, the test would be in trying to split a board in half with an axe. If it will not tear apart without tenacious strings of fiber holding on, it's elm!
Sorry Chip, hate to brake it to you but alder is not a possibility either. Growth ring are way too pronounced and the color is too orange.

[Glen Butler]

Looks like a softwood to me. Not sure which one though.


I was thinking the same thing.

[Rob Damon]

I have a huge pile of both air dryed and kiln dried cherry and even at 6% MC, it still has a distinct "sweet" smell, when it is cut/planed.

What does it smell like when you are working it?

Rob

[Chris Rosenberger]

Looks just like some new growth cypress to me, however if its locally grown up north it might not be that. Down here i guess it could've been a possibility.

That was my first thought when I first saw the pictures.
We used a lot of cypress here in the 70s for decks & exterior trim.
It does look like a soft wood. It is not cherry.

[Glen Butler]

also looks like some western cedar that I have


cut a piece and see what it smells like

Sorry I should have multi quoted. I can second this.

The OP planed the material, but see in the second photo, top piece at the left edge. It isn't planed. The fuzzy grain there is typical of soft wood. The grain does appear to be western red cedar, but this means Aromatic Cedar doesn't it. So OP, does it smell like cedar?

[Rick Gooden]

Dan,

I hope this has cleared things up for you. Seems to me the consensus is that it could be cherry, maybe not. Good luck.

[Chris Rosenberger]

I have a huge pile of both air dryed and kiln dried cherry and even at 6% MC, it still has a distinct "sweet" smell, when it is cut/planed.

What does it smell like when you are working it?

Rob

Some cherry will have a sweet smell when you work it & some will not.
It may make a difference on how it is dried.

[Dan Forman]

If the owner of the barn had been a boat builder, that could point in the direction of cypress or cedar, as both are rot resistant. If it's only half the weight of oak, that should eliminate the possibility of cherry.

Dan

[Dan Lawson]

Looks like a little more investigation is in order. I'll bring a cut board to a local shop and have them weigh in. Doesn't have an aroma of cedar to me, but thanks everyone for some good suggestion

[dan sherman]

I'm going to go with Western Red Cedar, as the color and grain looks right. It's used a lot for strip planked canoes, & other small boats.

check out some of these photos.
http://hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/cedar,%20western%20red.htm

[David Winer]

... I assume this is cherry but let me know if otherwise.
\
My first reaction was yes because the color was close. But something else seemed off. It was the pointy look of the figure. See attachment with call-outs. I have never seen cherry with this type of figure.

My entry in this guessing game is no, not cherry.

[Mitch Richardson]

Dan,

It is not cherry.
If you live in Wisconsin and it is local wood from a boat builder I would say that it is probably tamarack.
Whatever it is it's a softwood, not a hardwood.

[Chip Lindley]

Not a problem, Glen! I am no alder expert. It is not native here in Missouri and I have never had the opportunity to use any, except what may have been gleaned from pallets long ago.

As an aside, woods have their own distinctive smell. Smell can nail a species even of it is *iffy* visually. Cherry has it's own aroma, just as red oak or black walnut or red cedar does. Nobody will ever forget the scent of eucalyptus or hackberry! Scratch And Sniff! Compare with a known piece of cherry.

[David Christopher]

Looks like a little more investigation is in order. I'll bring a cut board to a local shop and have them weigh in. Doesn't have an aroma of cedar to me, but thanks everyone for some good suggestion

Dan, western cedar dont have that overpowering smell like eastern cedar.....it kinda smells sweet

[Leigh Betsch]

Looks like a cupboard to me.

[Randy Carnley]

My guess is cypress

[Paul Ryan]

Western Red smells just like a sauna, because that is what they use in sauna. I don't think it is western red though.

[Tony Bilello]

All of this was picked up in Wisconsin and likely locally grown. It was stored in someones barn (was a boat builder). Color is accuarate as I shot a neutral grey background and color corrected. It's not oak, and seems half the weight as I milled a bunch of oak this past summer, and the weight difference is noticable. Hmmmmmmmmm.

My first instinct was to say cypress but because you say it may be locally grown in Wisc, I gave up on the cypress. Now I notice you saying that the guy was a boat builder. Cypress is one of the main boat building woods down south for the large wooden shrimp boats. The 50 to 80 foot range. Now that I also see it is half the weight of oak, Cypress is back in the running. Cypress is lighter than a feather. Another test of cypress comes from the old boat building industry.....bend a board under pressure. The next day or so, it will retain a good amount of that shape. More so than other woods.
So, maybe the previous owner bought the wood further south and hauled it up to Wisc to build a boat. Cypress is also relatively inexpensive. If you said Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi or Louisiana I would have immediately jumped in and said cypress.
How would this evidence stand up in "Forensic Files"? Cypress it is. Maybe.:)

[Nathan Conner]

Hey, guys. Gotta step out here and make a declaration. That's definitely cherry. Without a doubt.

Not trying to be dismissive of the opinions - I'm by no means a domestic wood identifier, but I can tell walnut from maple 3 out of 10 times.

I just got back from the mill a couple of weeks ago with 300 feet of cherry, locally grown and cut, and once planed up, it looks EXACTLY like that. Same color, same ring spacing, same grain directional changes...everything. A couple of the lighter pieces look just like the sapwood transition pieces I have, and the heartwood is a spot-on-match.

Now, take this with a grain of salt. What I have is local cherry from the "left coast" - taken down 3 years ago in the northwest. I'm not sure if Wisconsin cherry is the same, but any of those pieces could have come out of this pile I've got. I have gone through many hundreds of feet of alder recently, and there's way too much definition between the rings and too much nice color there for the alder I've seen, but it's junk wood around here.

Of course, someone will prove me wrong, but I'd bet what's left of my paycheck on it.

[Peter Gregory]

Cherry almost always has pitch pockets or black dots.

[Glen Butler]

To the OP. Don't just get one shops opinion. Get several and go to a few dealers. People see what they use. Go to a cabinet shop with a piece of aspen and they are going to see heartwood maple. It is really difficult to identify a piece of wood by a couple of small pics.

Here is the hobbit house page for cherry. Oddly the photos here look just like the stacks of cherry I have in the shop. http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/cherry.htm

The OP's photos do not. Look at the cherry pics. Notice the greenish tinge that the growth rings display. Something missing from the OP's photos.

The odds are stacked against you Nathan and you are way out on that limb















All by yourself


















dont look down.:D

[george wilson]

I agree. It looks like cypress. Cypress is so soft you can make a thumbnail dent it. Check it out.

[Dan Forman]

Good idea on the thumbnail test.

Dan

[Stephen Edwards]

Whatever it is, it's pretty lumber in my opinion. Surely, you'll find a good project for it.

[Bill ThompsonNM]

it does look a lot like the cypress here:
//cypressinfo.org/index.php?page=templates-and-stylesheets

[Dan Lawson]

Ok. I have a gram scale at work and determined wood density of known species I have in my shop versus my "mystery" wood. All garage acclimated for 2 years. Here goes.

White Oak 757 kg/m3
Cherry (pennsylvania) 680 kg/m3
Mystery Wood 568 kg/m3

From the Enginnering Toolbox site some other comparisons mentioned in the thread all kg/m3.

Alder 400-700
Cypress 510
Elm 570
Red Cedar 380

Next step is some cross sections.

[Tony Shea]

You say the wood is half the weight of oak. In my experience cherry is a pretty dense wood and its' weight is right up there with oak. Not quite as heavy as oak but by no means is it half the weight. Another reason against the consensus of cherry.

[Buck Williams]

I like Rob's smell test idea, buy a piece of cherry somewhere, make a picture frame and compare smells, cherry is very sweet and distinctive/

[Myk Rian]

OK, I'm going to throw Locust into the mix.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=128673&d=1253930174

[Mark Rakestraw]

I like David's guess of it being western red cedar, especially since you got it from a boat builder. To heck with the furniture, build yourself a kayak!
Mark

[Fred Belknap]

I'll put in my two cents worth. I have used a lot of cherry, locally grown. Your sample looks like cherry to me. I recently finished making 24 doors for my kitchen cabinets using cherry. There is a lot of difference in the grain and color from one board to another. I notice as it get older it becomes more monolithic in color. One thing, most cherry I use,but not all, has small pitch lines in it(I guess that what they are). It really is hard to identify a board by a picture alone.
Fred

[george wilson]

We used a lot of cypress in Williamsburg. Maintenance's mill work shop,next door to my toolmaker's shop,was always using it for outdoor work. I am very sure it is cypress. The density,hardness,and weight of cypress varies. If it came off of the side of the tree that got less sunlight,the grains are closer,and the wood harder. This weight and hardness difference is very pronounced in cypress. I think your weight test above puts cypress well within the weight possibility range. Plane a bit off,and do try the suggested smell test.

[Leo Graywacz]

One thing about the cypress that I have used is it has checks in the middle of the wood often. The grain one the outside of the tree has the nature of being liftable. If you sand it with a RO sander it will never be flat and smooth. It will be bumpy along the grain. The other side of the wood is usually smoother and will never lift.

[Bill Keehn]

My first thought when I saw the pics is that it was Cypress. I just bought about 60 bf of rough cypress two weeks ago and planed some of it to see how it looks. It looks just like that.

[Dan Lawson]

My first thought when I saw the pics is that it was Cypress. I just bought about 60 bf of rough cypress two weeks ago and planed some of it to see how it looks. It looks just like that.

I'm coming to the conclusion that it's cypress. I did some rough cross sections last night and it's more similar to cypress than the cherry sample I had on hand. The grainy pits in cherry were pretty evidient and there was nothing like that with my mystery wood.

[doug faist]

Dan - I have occasionally fallen back on this website because it has end grain pictures for a lot of the woods. I was taught that end grain is the ultimate feature in identifying wood because it varies much less than face grain.

Just another avenue.

Back to making sawdust!

Doug

http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/#letterC

[Blake-Kagen]

I go along with Elijah. I've got 500 feet of Cypress and it sure looks just like those pics.

[Joe Kieve]

Dan,
I agree...maybe cypress. But definitely not cherry.

[Ed Griner]

I was lumber shopping on craigslist NJ,Delaware,&Pa. to day and saw some lumber that seems to resemble the mystery lumber.Its a shot in the dark,but the poster said it was locust,I don't know.I wouldn't know a locust tree if sat next to me on the sofa.I have never used the lumber. Hopefully we'll figure it out soon. Ed

[James Combs]

I do not believe it is cherry. The cherry shown on this web site http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/cherry.htm looks 98% like the several hundred brdft of cherry I have in my shop right down to the green tinge in places. My cherry does no look anything like the samples shown here. Too me it resembles the thin plank wood you sometime see on pallets but definitely not cherry.

[Dan Forman]

Locust is very heavy and very, very hard. I think the weight factor alone would rule out locust.

Dan

[Dave Lehnert]

I know at one time you could send a sample to the U.S. Forest Product Laboratory and they would test it for free. May want to check into this.
You have all of us wondering.

http://www.fs.fed.us/


My Guess.

I work with a lot of cherry. That is the last wood I would guess it is.
I am going with Cypress but a type of Cedar is also a good guess.

[Dan Lawson]

I know at one time you could send a sample to the U.S. Forest Product Laboratory and they would test it for free. May want to check into this.
You have all of us wondering.

http://www.fs.fed.us/


My Guess.

I work with a lot of cherry. That is the last wood I would guess it is.
I am going with Cypress but a type of Cedar is also a good guess.

Dave: Thanks for the link. Since it's rather cold in my workshop garage (no heat), I have time to ID the wood properly and will send a sample off to Madison for identification. I will update the thread when ID is obtained.

Thanks everyone! My guess is cypress as well. If so, my plans for the wood will shift to outdoor furniture. My wife has eye on a bench.;)

Cheers eveyone.

Dan

[Brad Townsend]

If there is one thing I have learned from this thread, its that as wonderful as the internet is, wood identification is not one of its strengths.:)

[Dave Lehnert]

Dave: Thanks for the link. Since it's rather cold in my workshop garage (no heat), I have time to ID the wood properly and will send a sample off to Madison for identification. I will update the thread when ID is obtained.

Thanks everyone! My guess is cypress as well. If so, my plans for the wood will shift to outdoor furniture. My wife has eye on a bench.;)

Cheers eveyone.

Dan

Please. Let us know what you find out.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Please. Let us know what you find out.


No kidding!! Get on the stick!! The suspense is killing me.:p

[Dan Lawson]

No kidding!! Get on the stick!! The suspense is killing me.:p

Kent: The Have Gun Will Travel dates you to my 60's "growing up in black and white TV era"........

[Kent A Bathurst]

Kent: The Have Gun Will Travel dates you to my 60's "growing up in black and white TV era"........


Well, Dan - thanks. I guess. Coulda been worse if you'd dated me to the original live performance of Henry V.

[Terry Crump]

I had a friend who called me "the second ugliest man on Earth--until Paladin dies" By the way--I disagree.
Anyway, I'm in the "not cherry" camp. I don't think a boatbuilder would have any interest in cherry. And if it WAS cherry, it would have darkened considerably in his shop. To test, just plane a small section of a board and see if it's lighter in color than the rest of the board.

[Dan Lawson]

Looks just like some new growth cypress to me, however if its locally grown up north it might not be that. Down here i guess it could've been a possibility.

Just updated this thread with the results from the USDA lab in Madison. They ID'd the wood as Bald Cypress. Makes sense as it came from a barn in Elkhorn, WI where the late owner built boats. It was touted to be cherry but coudn't tell until it was planed (also I'm a newbie woodworker). Now off the building adirondack chairs with the cypress.....