Wood used in cheap furniture

[Lewis Ehrhardt]

I'm reclaiming the wood from a desk I found. The wood looks like some type of Ipe or Brazil Cherry? Anyone know what kind of wood that's used in making cheap furniture that's found in the discount stores? It seems to have a very tight grain pattern, very dense. NOTE: it's wood and NOT some type of mdf that's been covered. Thanks Lewis

[John Schweikert]

Poplar is cheap and can be stained to look like cherry, with similar looking grain as long as the poplar starts out with a consistent color. Very common. Hard to say on your piece though. Upload a photo.

[Jay Park]

Rubberwood (or sometimes called parawood) is often used with cheap import furniture.

http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/hardwoods/rubberwood/

[Lewis Ehrhardt]

Thanks guys for the replies, Jay, it's rubberwood [parawood]. Looks just like the pic you posted. Looks like it would be good to make a box or two, perhaps even a bandsaw box. It's free!

[John Schweikert]

That wood database website is a great resource. Thanks for posting it. I always enjoy learning something new.

[Lee Schierer]

Ipe is extremely dense, so dense it will not float.

[Dan Hintz]

Rubberwood (or sometimes called parawood) is often used with cheap import furniture.

wood-database.com/lumber-identification/hardwoods/rubberwood/ (http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/hardwoods/rubberwood/)

WARNING: This page (one of its ads, most likely) is tagged as having malware associated with it. I looked into it, and yep, it's bad stuff from a Russian site. Think twice before going there, and if you do, make sure your AV software is up to date.

[Brian W Evans]

Thanks for the info. I've always wondered what that was. I have a child's table and chair set as well as a folding "TV" table set, both made out of this stuff. Both are from Target, which seems to have a lot of similar-looking wood pieces. Glad to hear its probably sustainably harvested.