Wood identification

[Mark Rainey]

What is this wood?401488401489401490

[Andrew Hughes]

Ash sitting on top of beech.

[Mark Rainey]

Ash sitting on top of beech.
Thank you Andrew. I think it is ash. The workbench top is beech.

[Richard Coers]

I thought I could see ray flecks in the board. If there are ray flecks, it's oak.

[Lee Schierer]

I think it is red oak instead of ash.

[Mark Rainey]

There are subtle ray flecks401518401518401519

[Bill Orbine]

Red Oak in a blink of the eye!

[Andrew Hughes]

It could be red but I don’t use red oak. And I don’t know anyone who does :p

[John K Jordan]

What is this wood?401488401489401490

Mark, look at the end grain and compare it with on-line pictures. This page, section 7, tells how to proceed: https://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/wood-identification-guide/

If you post a photo of wood you are likely to get more than one guess, sometimes many! The thing to remember is all of the guesses are wrong except for one, if you are lucky. The lighting and the photography as well as the natural variation within a species can trick the eye.

A quick look at the shaved end grain with a hand lens can easily tell the difference between many common species. Fortunately with yours the strong ring structure eliminates a lot of species. Of the two mentioned:

this is what the end grain of Ash looks like
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and this is Red Oak
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I was looking at end grain this afternoon. A piece that someone said was cherry was actually maple with a darker color. These two are sometimes hard to distinguish even from the end grain; not much chance looking at the side of the board and the color. I've seen very red White Oak and quite pale Red Oak. For the oaks, the ray length is a tell but the end grain is better. The smell of many species is distinctive but it's kind of useless without experience.

JKJ

[Mark Rainey]

Thanks for in information John! Here is the end grain - I am leaning towards red oak.401538

[Dan Baginski]

Looks like ash to me. I say that because I’m currently working with some. Have you cut it to see what it smells like? I don’t know if there’s a big odor difference between ash and oak.

[John K Jordan]

Thanks for in information John! Here is the end grain - I am leaning towards red oak.
401538

Excellent! Looks like red oak from here. The smoky columns of tiny "bubbles" of late-wood pores above the band of large earlywood pores are a distinctive tell for oak. Maybe try to clean up a small patch with a single-edge razor blade just to better check the large pores. This may be of interest in the future, the difference between the end grain of red and most white oak.

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Disregard the color. The biggest difference is the presence of tyloses that clog the pores of the heart wood, making white oak useful for things like whiskey barrels since liquids will run right through red oak. Theses tyloses are easily seen if a very small area is shaved with a razor blade, not so much on a sawn or sanded surface. Another difference is the length of the rays. There is a chemical test too.
This has more: https://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/distinguishing-red-oak-from-white-oak/

I got started on the hobby of wood ID from the book Identifying Wood by R. Bruce Hoadley. My copy is so well used all the pages are coming out!
https://www.amazon.com/Identifying-Wood-Accurate-Results-Simple/dp/0942391047

I think his other book, Understanding Wood, should be required reading for the rare woodworker today who wants to really learn about wood instead of just get by on guesses and feelings and what cousin Bubba says.
https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Wood-Craftsmans-Guide-Technology/dp/1561583588
Hoadley is not only a wood scientist but a craftsman so his perspective is more practical than some of the other technical books.

JKJ

[Andrew Seemann]

Based on the ray fleck and the pores, it is Oak rather than Ash. Color and grain wise it looks like the table I just made out of Red Oak.

I use Red Oak fairly often. While it isn't my favorite wood, it is stable and around here it is dirt cheap and easily available in good quality. It also looks quite nice with Walnut Watco for a stain.

[Sam Beagle]

Red oak 100%

[Andrew Hughes]

It probably is Red oak Dan. John K J has I’d it as red oak and is very good at identifying wood one of the best here on saw mill creek.
But i still hold firm it look like ash to me.:)
And red oak does have a unpleasant smell unlike white oak. Unless it has some fungus or mold.:o