Wood indentification help ... maple?

[Alexander Scott]

Hi, Can anyone tell me what kind of wood this is? not sure if it's hard or soft maple. growth rings vary, but most are 1/16" or so, all the way up to about 1/4".

I got a bunch of 2" thick 8-9' long slabs, Apparently they've been sitting around drying for a long time, or so i was told.

[Tom Hammond]

Not sure about the raw material, but on the cut pieces, I am 99.99% sure that's honey locust. (well, maybe 85% sure).

[curtis rosche]

deffinatly honey locust

[Alexander Scott]

Thanks alot folks. How do you know? coloring of the wood? The bark is quite brown, all the pics of honey locust bark ive looked up have been grey in coloration.

I've heard of such a tree, but never really seen it up close. I'm in Mass, and I don't think its native to the area.

Was going to use these for making guitar bodies. Doesnt seem that hard, i can sort of scratch it with my nail.

[curtis rosche]

its a very hard wood once you start to really work with it. anyone who has worked with it for a decent amount of time will instantly recognize it by color and by the growth rings

[Jim Matthews]

It looks like sushi grade salmon.

Pretty stuff, regardless. How easily did it handle on your bandsaw?

[Alexander Scott]

havent tackled it yet with the bandsaw.... I hacked off that chunk with a handsaw so I could take a look at the endgrain.

once i get my planer back running ill send a narrow board through. The widest slab is something like 40" wide, but i have a couple that are right around 15"

[Tom Hammond]

BE WARNED: The sawdust, especially the sanding dust, from Honeylocust can be extremely fine... almost like flour. WEAR A RESPIRATOR... not just a dust mask!!!

Regarding recognition... honeylocust has a unique pattern in the grain between the rings, where it looks like the wiring of a circuit board. Very distinct. This pattern is not seen if the boards are quartersawn, however.

[Alexander Scott]

Hey, thanks for the warning.

btw, another forum thinks that this is osage orange. :confused:

[John Coloccia]

I don't think it looks anything like osage orange.

[Tom Hammond]

Depending on the cut, osage orange does have some similarities to this... but they are distinctive enough you can tell the difference immediately.

http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/osage%20orange.htm

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[Alexander Scott]

hi thanks for that link, alot of good info on that hobbyhouse site.

[Lee Schierer]

It's not maple of any kind. I agree with the Osage Orange or Black Locust. Maple grain is much less pronounced.

[Tom Fischer]

I"d say osage orange as well. Fast grower (growth rings here are about 3/8"). I cut this tree down about 10 years ago. The color seems to mellow with age.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5160/7194509364_2700ce3be3_b.jpg

[Prashun Patel]

hahahahahaha. Perfect.

[Jim Matthews]

Depending on the cut, osage orange does have some similarities to this... but they are distinctive enough you can tell the difference immediately.

http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/osage%20orange.htm

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Are those napkin rings? They're sharp.