What Kind of wood is this?

[Tony Shea]

I have a board that was given to me by a friend that had this, some cherry, and zebra wood rough sawn laying around. He just happend to have it because he started to get into woodworking and then became uninterested. Good for me and bad for him.

This board is an absolutely beautifully figured peice that is very dense and heavy. Issue being is that this is the only peice I have of it and would like to try and find some more in order to design a project around it. I also would just like so more in general as this peice is just beautiful in person. But I just don't know what it is and haven't been successful in identifying it.

154178

154179

154180

[Craig Fales]

It has the characteristics of bubinga.

[Tony Shea]

BTW, the lighting in the pics is not great as the board is a bit darker red.

[Matthew Hills]

I'd guess either Bubinga or Ipe (and am leaning towards the latter)
- HobbitHouse: Bubinga (http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/bubinga.htm)
- HobbitHouse: Ipe (http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/ipe.htm)

If you're looking to match, best if you can view the matching wood in-person. (as you noted, getting lighting right is tough, and this is a common issue with trying to view wood online)

Matt

[Gerry Grzadzinski]

Looks like Bubinga to me.

[Roger Benton]

+ 4 on bubinga. nice grab.

[Tony Shea]

I flattened it with handplanes and boy wasn't it a chore. I had to stop to sharpen my irons a number of times and still couldn't take a significant cut what so ever. I really don't believe it to be IPE at all. I have some experience with the stuff and it doesn't create the same sort of dust and shavings. Thanks for the Bubinga suggestions as I believe you guys might be right on with that.

[John Coloccia]

You might be able to tell by smell. Cut off a piece. From what I remember, Ipe smells like rotten eggs. Bubinga smells pretty bad too but if it's dry it's almost like....uhm....bubble gum maybe?

Boy, I hope I'm getting that right. It's been a little while since I've smelled either, but that's what I remember.

Zebrawood, by the way, smells about like Zebra....uh....Zebra...hmmm...well, let's just say it smells like Zebra something and leave it at that.

Maybe someone with a better nose than I can describe it more accurately. I personally think it's Bubinga.

[David Helm]

Probably Bubinga. Doesn't look much like any of the Ipe I have been around. I've used quite a bit of Ipe and never saw any with the figure in your piece.

[Rick Markham]

You might be able to tell by smell. Cut off a piece. From what I remember, Ipe smells like rotten eggs. Bubinga smells pretty bad too but if it's dry it's almost like....uhm....bubble gum maybe?

Boy, I hope I'm getting that right. It's been a little while since I've smelled either, but that's what I remember.

Zebrawood, by the way, smells about like Zebra....uh....Zebra...hmmm...well, let's just say it smells like Zebra something and leave it at that.

Maybe someone with a better nose than I can describe it more accurately. I personally think it's Bubinga.

Zebrawood smells like an open sewer... or my friends plumbing truck... Of course he says "smells like money to me!" :D

[Joe Shinall]

Zebrawood smells like an open sewer... or my friends plumbing truck... Of course he says "smells like money to me!" :D

Second that. First time I ran a zebrawood board through the planer I had to air out my shop with fans and throw the DC bag away...

I had a piece of Bubinga about a month ago that looked exactly like that board. I took a pic of it and I'm trying to find it to show you. I'll post it if I do.

[Shawn Morley]

yep, definitely Bubinga.

[Thomas love]

Bubinga here as well , Zebra wood / stinks like a wet dog.

[Mike Hollingsworth]

yep, definitely Bubinga.

+1



10 characters

[Jamie Cowan]

Yes! Bubinga smells like bubble gum to me, too--but everyone thinks I'm crazy. And slightly off-topic, poplar smells like popcorn.

[Tony Shea]

Well then, I think I'll go with the notion that it's Bubinga. While handplaning it flat I really didn't notice much of a smell from it, and I kept trying to smell it as I often am able to indentify woods this way. But really didn't give an odor of any significance, although I am just getting over a cold. I have yet to plane down any of my Zebra wood stock. I'm glad I received all the warnings about its' smell before I did though. It might be a bit before I get into the Zebra as it is 12/4 stock and really have no need for anything that thick. I also don't have the ability to resaw it into more usuable peices yet, and nice bandsaw is high up on the list of tools as I'm constantly running into issues with not being able to resaw wideish board. The table saw is not a great performer at resawing safely as I have experienced, it's also very limited in widths as you all know.

[Matthew Hills]

Well then, I think I'll go with the notion that it's Bubinga. While handplaning it flat I really didn't notice much of a smell from it, and I kept trying to smell it as I often am able to indentify woods this way. But really didn't give an odor of any significance, although I am just getting over a cold. I have yet to plane down any of my Zebra wood stock. I'm glad I received all the warnings about its' smell before I did though. It might be a bit before I get into the Zebra as it is 12/4 stock and really have no need for anything that thick. I also don't have the ability to resaw it into more usuable peices yet, and nice bandsaw is high up on the list of tools as I'm constantly running into issues with not being able to resaw wideish board. The table saw is not a great performer at resawing safely as I have experienced, it's also very limited in widths as you all know.

Wait until your next cold for the zebrawood.

Might look for other woodworkers in area with bandsaw who can help (and hope they didn't read this thread on the smell)

If trying on tablesaw, put on a tall auxiliary fence and use a tall feather board. Put grooves on both edges (you will need to joint first to get clean edges), and then finish the resaw with handsaw. Don't think I'd do it on long boards (just too hard to control)

Matt

[Louis Reynolds]

Could be bubinga...but I don't think that it's Ipe...Ipe has an acrid smell and the dust is a vibrant orange/yellow. I have come across some w/ figure not unlike this, but I don't believe that figure is very common.

[Ray DuBose]

It doesn't look like any Ipe I've ever seen or used. My daughter calls Ipe "Bacon Wood" she thinks it smells like bacon when it's fresh cut. I have to agree with her on that.


You might be able to tell by smell. Cut off a piece. From what I remember, Ipe smells like rotten eggs. Bubinga smells pretty bad too but if it's dry it's almost like....uhm....bubble gum maybe?

Boy, I hope I'm getting that right. It's been a little while since I've smelled either, but that's what I remember.

Zebrawood, by the way, smells about like Zebra....uh....Zebra...hmmm...well, let's just say it smells like Zebra something and leave it at that.

Maybe someone with a better nose than I can describe it more accurately. I personally think it's Bubinga.