Wood ID Help, Western Red Ceder?

[Phillip J Allen]

Hi,
A friend of mine pulled out the wood from his 1951 home's porch ceiling. I was originally told it was mahogany but it is definitely not.

I suspect it is western red ceder heart wood but I am not sure. It is very soft and very fine grained and gives of the most wispy, fuzzy shavings.

Can anyone identify this wood?

thanks,
Phil

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[Jim Koepke]

I have seen both spruce and cedar with such an appearance.

Does the wood have any aroma? Spruce and cedar smell different, even when fairly old.

Most likely the wood was harvested an milled in a relatively local area. I don't think mahogany grows in Colorado.

jtk

[John K Jordan]

Perhaps shave a spot clean on the end grain with a razor blade and compare what you see using a hand lens with this:
http://www.wood-database.com/western-red-cedar/

and this:
http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/cedar,%20western%20red.htm

JKJ

[Lee Schierer]

To me that piece is pretty dark for western red cedar, it looks more like redwood.

[Reinis Kanders]

You could go to the home depot and smell the shingles they sell. Some of them are yellow and some red cedar, would give you an idea of what red cedar is like. It is quite pleasant smell.

[John C Cox]

Looks like redwood to me as well. Great stuff.

[Phillip J Allen]

Considering the lack of any noticeable ceder smell, it seems that it is redwood.
Here is a close up of the end grain after slicing it clean with a razor blade.

Phil
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