Wood ID?

[Ron Kurzius]

Hi all,

I found this piece of firewood in a load of all "Oak", I pulled it aside and am going to use it as a tool handle. I'd like to know what it is so I have a good answer when asked what it is. I live in the midcoast area of Maine.

Thank you!
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[Bryan Lisowski]

It really would be difficult to tell, because the wood is to dirty and the end grain isn't clear. I would brush off the dirt, take a few swipes with a hand plane and take close up of end grain.

[Bob Bouis]

Those white blotches might be rot. Are they as hard as the rest of the wood?

[Tony Joyce]

Beech or Birch??

[Ron Kurzius]

Yes, the white blotches are just as hard as the rest and the bark doesn't look like birch.

[peter gagliardi]

That is beech.

[Ron Kurzius]

376658Here is another picture, sanded and oiled. If it's Beech is that the way Beech always looks or has something happened to it?

[Danny Hamsley]

I agree with Peter. It is beech. Something has happened to it.

[Tony Joyce]

Spalting??

[Ron Kurzius]

After looking around I see something called white rot. The white spots seem just as hard as the other parts. Wouldn't rot soften the wood?

Think its OK to use?

[Ron Kurzius]

Well I guess this mystery is solved. Spalted Beech. I hope it doesn't keep spalting :)


http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/beech/beech,%20spalted%207b%20s50%20plh.htm

[John K Jordan]

Well I guess this mystery is solved. Spalted Beech. I hope it doesn't keep spalting :)

Spalting and rot (the next stage of spalting) quit when the moisture and temperature become inhospitable to the fungus as it eats it's way through the wood. Fungi thrive in warm and moist wood. They can go dormant when cold and die when the wood is heated or dried.

Until the decay advances the wood can remain as hard as the unspalted wood and is perfectly usable. (Some types of spalting are prettier than others.)

In past centuries spalted wood was in demand for the color (caused by certain types of fungi) but these days it is far more desired for the beautiful black zone lines that the fungi often construct as walls of defense between competing colonies.

These are some of the spalted blocks I keep for woodturning:

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JKJ