wood ID please

[Richard Demler]

Someone gave me a piece of wood 11in diameter and 2 1/2 in think 15-20 years ago..I do not know what kind it is,hoping someone can tell me..It reddish color and looks kind of like burl wood.BUT smells exactly like when you sharpen a pencil.Thanks for your time.
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[Reed Gray]

I always think of pencils being made out of cedar of some sort. I have seen that type of burl in both cedar and douglas fir. Not sure though.

robo hippy

[John K Jordan]

Incense cedar is often used for pencils.
http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/softwoods/incense-cedar/

But what I've seen is not usually very red. Do you know what part of the country it came from? That might be a clue. Eastern Red Cedar (Aromatic cedar) can be pretty red and has a distinctive smell, often used for cedar chests, etc.

JKJ

[Scott DelPorte]

Western red cedar smells like pencils when you cut it, but I have never seen what the burls look like. I have used the straight grain stuff for guitar and ukulele tops.

[Richard Demler]

It did come from out west somewhere.I have smelled aromatic cedar and it did not smell like that.This did have some great grain and was very easy to turn and sand.Incense cedar is what it must be.Thank you for the replies.I will try to post better pics tomorrow after work.

[Richard Demler]

pictures of bowl that smells like pencils.

[Russell Neyman]

When I don't know what the species is and grow tired of being unable to answer the question, I make something up -- my favorite is "yagotme" -- and offer it straight-faced. In this case your pseudonym is pretty obvious: "pencilwood."

[Reed Gray]

My guess would be Douglas Fir. I had a friend bring over a burl he thought was madrone. When cutting into it, 'that sure don't smell like Madrone!'. We figured it was fir. The color looks more like fir than any cedar I have seen. Cedar is softer too. I have turned some redwood burl, and it does have the smell, but is really soft.

robo hippy

[Prashun Patel]

pencils are largely made from cedar. Does it work like cedar?

[Richard Demler]

I don't know,I've never turned cedar before...

[John K Jordan]

I don't know,I've never turned cedar before...

I turn a lot of cedar. Cedar (eastern red cedar, ERC, aromatic cedar, Juniperus virginiana) is generally quite light in weight, soft, fine grained, and a very distinctive "cedar chest" smell. It is usually pale to medium pink or reddish or a bit brown. The lighter creamy white sapwood is sometimes mixed in with the darker wood in very interesting figure. Cedar dries easily without much or any warping or cracking. When I cut boards on my sawmill I sometimes just lay them out in the sun and flip them over occasionally to dry quickly.

Cedar turns easily but some people have trouble with tearout. Maybe they just need to sharpen more. I've never had or seen any burl. I don't even know if ERC ever grows burls.

Some cedar, you can see a big variation in color and figure:

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JKJ