Ipe? Bloodwood? Something else

[John Loftis]

I was at an estate sale on Saturday and they had a stack of a dozen boards for sale that I ended up buying. They were heavily weathered and had bolt holes, so I'm guessing they were reclaimed from some exterior project. The wood is quite heavy-- heavier than sapele, but maybe on par with purpleheart. I jointed a face of a sample piece when I got back to the shop. Not sure what this is. Has a nice ribbon figure. Rose/pinkish color. I've never worked with ipe, but it doesn't look like the pictures of it I've seen online. I know ipe is often used for exterior projects, which made me wonder if that could be it. Any ideas?

342900

[Chris Padilla]

Looks like ipe to me. If you cut it, a yellowish sawdust will be present. Quite dense therefore heavy.

[Brad Shipton]

Could be Jatoba or Cumaru too. Both these vary widely in color.

See if it floats. The SG of IPE/Cumaru and Jatoba are all >1.0 so they will sink.

[Andrew Hughes]

Looks like Bubinga to me.
Hate the stuff!

Aj

[Mel Fulks]

Guessing one of the" Philipine mahogany " things.

[Rich Riddle]

I am with AJ on this one thinking it is Bubinga wood.

[Mel Fulks]

It could be Bubinga ,but since that is more expensive than the African or Philipine " mahoganies" I think it's more likely the latter. Looks like quarter sawn or rift grain, and that can knock off 20 percent of cost on those as most find them more convincing as mahogany when flat sawn. Since it sounds like it was some type of rough exterior project, cheaper wood seems more likely.

[Frank Pratt]

Ipe will have yellowish sawdust that is kind of oily. And your jointer blades will dull almost immediately unless they're carbide.

[Mike Hollingsworth]

Ipe has an awful smell when cutting. Like Pepper.
Bubinga has a sweet smell.

[Simon Dupay]

it's kempus or cumaru definitely not ipe

[Wayne Lomman]

The end grain looks like a Philippine mahogany of some kind. Cheers

[John Loftis]

Just cut some more. My co-worker said it smelled strongly of cinnamon. To me the cinammon was pretty subtle, but maybe a little cedar-y smell too. Sawdust was pink, not tan. I think we can rule out ipe. The weathered side is somewhat tan colored.

[Wade Lippman]

It looks like meranti, but that is pretty light stuff. My second guess would be sapele, but if it is too heavy, then ipe. Doesn't vaguely resemble bubinga. (never seen cumaru...)

[Gerry Grzadzinski]

To me it looks a lot like Bubinga, except the color is too light.

[Andrew Hughes]

Just cut some more. My co-worker said it smelled strongly of cinnamon. To me the cinammon was pretty subtle, but maybe a little cedar-y smell too. Sawdust was pink, not tan. I think we can rule out ipe. The weathered side is somewhat tan colored.

I have another guess.Apitong.It has a nice cinnamon smell.I have not seen Apitong rowed like your piece but it is a very durable outdoor wood.
It will also turn a nice dark brown color.

[Lee Schierer]

Ipe is the color of milk chocolate powder. It has very little grain color variation and it weathers to a grey color.

[John C Bush]

I salvaged wood from crates and pallets shipped from Peru that had similar wood used. Also had bloodwood, lots of purpleheart and lots of wood similar in appearance to your sample and also has a sweet aroma when machined. Hard and dense and looks good with a natural oil finish. Not sure what species.

[Chris Padilla]

Ipe is the color of milk chocolate powder. It has very little grain color variation and it weathers to a grey color.Ipe can also be quite reddish and green, too, and depending on the part of the tree it was cut from, can have some grain whirling around. However, I'll take back my thoughts on this being ipe...the color does seem a bit too pinkish plus no yellow sawdust. So I have no idea. Bubinga sounded better but I haven't looked at my bubinga in a while so I could be off there, too. :)

[Patrick Irish]

Possible it's apitong? I scored some "Asian mahogany" that was too hard for my saw. Cabinet shop resawed and milled 8 boards and said it was apitong. Looks similar to that.

[peter gagliardi]

Looks like Jatoba-aka Brazilian Cherry, but your note on the smell makes me think it possible that it is Santos Mahogany, though that species tends to have a bit of purplish tinge to it.
It does however have a very distinct smell- much more so than many of the others mentioned- almost irritating the first time you work it, but becomes more pleasant with further exposure. It is a balsam, so it is very aromatic.

[Jim Finn]

I have worked with Apitong and African Mahogany. I think it is the Mahogany.