What type of wood is this?

[Mike Dowell]

I've seen this a number of times in my career, and I've never know what it was. I need to make a new rocker for this little chair.367014367015

[Jake Elkins]

I've milled a bit of elm, and this sure likes like that to me

[Lee Schierer]

My first thought was chestnut.

[Darcy Warner]

Looks like elm to me.

[scott spencer]

Looks like elm with dark stain

[Mel Fulks]

I've seen it ,too. Old potty chair. Made same guesses as here,finally decided it was red oak cut close to stump. Looked to Hobbit House site for guidance .

[John K Jordan]

Look closely at the rings - if the latewood pores are in wavy bands it could well be elm.

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JKJ

[Jon Grider]

Elm in my opinion.

[Yonak Hawkins]

I say ash.

[Danny Hamsley]

The wavy bands indicate elm.

[John K Jordan]

Mike, as usual when someone posts a photo and asks for ID what he gets is guesses and opinions. Hard to expect more since wood ID by photo is notoriously inaccurate. So many species look the same and different boards from even the same tree can look the same. If you really want to know the easiest way is follow accepted guidelines for looking at end grain. Here are some: http://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/wood-identification-guide/

I got started on the wood ID "hobby" after reading R. Bruce Hoadley's books. His book "Identifying Wood" is excellent. https://www.amazon.com/Identifying-Wood-Accurate-Results-Simple/dp/0942391047 I've used my copy so much the pages are falling out!

Another resource for comparing your wood to known samples is hobbithouseinc.com. Here is the page for one candidate, American Elm: http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/elm,%20american.htm

Also, every American citizen can get up to five free samples of wood identified by sending a small piece to the government Forest Products Lab. Instructions are at the bottom of the Wood Database ID page. They used to be very good and accurate; I haven't used them lately so I don't know if they, too, are casualties of spiraling costs and federal budget cuts.

JKJ