Wood ID needed

[Doug W Swanson]

Hey all,
I'm looking for an ID on some wood I have access to. There is a fair amount of this wood with the staining in the middle and I'm not sure what kind of wood it is. It looks like it would make some really nice bowls but if the wood is crappy for turning I don't want to waste my time with it :).

BTW, this one piece has a couple of voids in it but most of it is void free...

Any help is appreciated!

323920323921

[Brian Brown]

Looks like aspen to me, but what do I know. The heartwood is usually lighter in aspen, but in diseased and bug eaten wood it can get this dark color, sort of like ambrosia maple. The bark, cambium, and sapwood all look like aspen, but it could also be a birch species. I have turned some aspen, and it is bit stringy, and very soft. Spaults nicely though. I would try some, and see what you think.

[Allan Ferguson]

Aspen, often gets red to brown coloring. It is tough turning. Make pretty lamp shades when turned very thin 1/8" and less. It is worth playing with. Allan

[Steve Schlumpf]

Doug - looks like the poplar we have around here. Very soft wood when green. It can be turned but the stuff I turned had a smell to it that was less than pleasant!

[daryl moses]

Aspen, Poplar, and Cottonwood are all of the Populus genus. [related] that said it looks like Aspen to me.

[Paul Williams]

I agree that it looks like aspen. I really need to see the leaves to be sure. My neighbor just cut down about 20 aspen trees if you need more. Perhaps on a better wood note, I will be cutting down some fairly large apple trees and perhaps two butternut trees. If you need more wood, you are 10 or so miles north of me.

[Reed Gray]

Butternut??? Dang, where are the Star Trek transporters when you need them, just got a bunch of apple though... My first thought on the wood above was Birch, but not some thing that I have had much turning experience with. Poplar does have a peculiar smell.

robo hippy

[Doug W Swanson]

Thanks for the replies. I may go and pick some of this up this weekend to give it a try. The guy also has some boxelder available as well so I'll probably pick some of that up as well.

Paul, I may take you up on the offer. I could swap you with some cherry and black walnut :)