Wood identity

[Cliff Polubinsky]

I got this log from a friend. He didn't know what it is but he had been told by a university botanist that the trees on his property were primarily white, red, and he thinks, pin oak.

This doesn't look like white or red oak that I'm familiar with. Could it be pin oak? The log was down for a few years. I'm planning to slice it up and steam it to make some shaker oval boxes.

Here's photos of the long and end grain.

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Thanks.
Cliff

[Lee Schierer]

It definitely is not red oak, which has a porous grain. I also doubt that it is white oak. I'm not familiar with pin oak.

[Jamie Hoskins]

It reminds me of Pecan, but I am no wood expert.

[Stan Calow]

I thought pin oak was one of the common varieties that fall in the red oak family.

[Dan Lambert]

It would be much better to have an end grain picture with something to give it scale, as it's hard to tell whether you have a really good close up lens, or the growth rings are really widely separated.
It also look like there is a good bit of spalting in it, which would be right in line with what you said about it being down for a while. That coloration might change the diagnosis of what it is, but some closer pictures of the face grain and a picture of the end grain that give some scale would help a lot to ID it.

[Brian Tymchak]

My guess is a very punky hard maple. The thin early wood ring reminds me of maple end grain.

My $0.02.

[Jay Michaels]

I concur on the "punky hard maple" vote.

[kent wardecke]

Pin oak is a red oak. Pin oak makes good firewood, lumber. Too many knots
I'll buy spalted maple

[Cliff Polubinsky]

Could it be spalted hickory? I've always worked with the heartwood but I understand the sapwood is much lighter. The log was only 10"-12" in diameter so I'd think it would have been mostly sapwood. Here's some better photos.

Cliff

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[Justin Rapp]

Could it be spalted hickory? I've always worked with the heartwood but I understand the sapwood is much lighter. The log was only 10"-12" in diameter so I'd think it would have been mostly sapwood. Here's some better photos.

Cliff

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i don't think it is hickory. Hickory is very dense and heavy. Pending how wet that wood is, if it weighs a ton, maybe hickory. Also, even if the log was young, you'd still see some big of dark sap wood near the center.

[Tony Shea]

I think it's either punky spalted maple or punky spalted poplar. The wide growth rings reminds me of the large poplar that we have on our property. It's a very fast growing tree therefore growth rings are not tight at all.

[kent wardecke]

Poplar as in Aspen or tulip poplar? If it was tulip polar the center would have some color

Spalted is a fancy word for starting to decay. My experience with spalted is that the wood becomes brittle I don't think the thin pieces needed for stream bent Shaker boxes will have the right properties. It's pretty but if the first attempt fails I would pass on a second attempt

[Cliff Polubinsky]

Poplar as in Aspen or tulip poplar? If it was tulip polar the center would have some color

Spalted is a fancy word for starting to decay. My experience with spalted is that the wood becomes brittle I don't think the thin pieces needed for stream bent Shaker boxes will have the right properties. It's pretty but if the first attempt fails I would pass on a second attempt

Kent,

After 20 minutes of steaming it bends beautifully. I had one or two where I didn't notice a defect in the strip that broke out but on the whole it's working well.

Cliff

[Don Orr]

Almost definitely an Elm or related like Hackberry. Ulmia genus. If you look closely at the last end grain photo you can clearly see the ziz-zaggy lines ( a highly technical term) which is a defining characteristic of Elm, indicating its interlocked grain. The dark discoloration at the annular rings and general punkiness is also a good indicator of Elm that has been dead for a while.

[Tom Bender]

Looks like poor firewood. I don't think you are going to make shaker boxes with it.

[John K Jordan]

Read this, it's all worth reading but pay attention to section 7:

https://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/wood-identification-guide/

I use a low-power stereo microscope for examining end grain but a 10x hand lens works as well.

You can also send a sample to the govmt for a free ID, details at the bottom of the article or check here: https://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/research/centers/woodanatomy/wood_idfactsheet.php

JKJ