Mystery Wood

[Mike Henderson]

I was given some rough sawn wood, air dried. But it's mystery wood to me. Anyone have a clue to what this wood is? One thing is that it's fairly heavy compared to something like cherry or walnut. I'm pretty sure it was a tree that grew in California.

Here's what it looked like in the rough.
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And here's what it looks like after "processing" it to get it flat and square.
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It has some unusual "flecks" in the wood that seem more prominent towards the outside of the tree. This picture was not taken outdoors in the sunlight so the color is a bit different from the first two pictures. I include it to show the "flecks".
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Of course, all woodworkers know that the best wood is "free wood" so I'll find a use for it. It would be interesting to know what it really is.

If we can't figure it out, I'll call it "wonder wood" - I wonder what it is.

Mike

[The wife of my departed woodworking friend gave it to me. There's more but I don't have storage space for it all. And processing it is quite a job.]

[Andrew Hughes]

Looks like live oak Mike.

[Rob Sack]

It looks similar to some sycamore that I have had in the shop for years.

[Bill Dufour]

Those look like rays to me so I would guess live oak. Is it quarter sawn in the area of those rays? Hard to say but the color looks correct for live oak. Kinda yellow tan. Is it denser then other oak?
Bill D

[Warren Lake]

Doesnt look like Oak at all to me.

not up on the artsy craftsy woods but it looks like Lacewood. Never worked in it but saw one of the guys from school in a Fine Woodwork using it way back.

[Howard Pollack]

I agree with Rob. It looks just like sycamore that I have in my shop, cut in the SF Bay area. My doubt comes from the weight, my sycamore is lighter than walnut. -Howard

[Mark Hennebury]

American Sycamore
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[scott lipscomb]

Pic of the bark would help. We have a native sycamore in California, Platanus racemosa, a very large tree that grows in alluvial conditions is fairly ubiquitous in ravines across the state. Platanus x acerifolia, in many different varieties is widely planted as an ornamental and as a street tree. So...lots of Sycamores in California. The bark is very distinctive on all species in the genus. I am not very familiar with the lumber, though.

[Warren Lake]

if it came from your area then not Lacewood but here it is and why it came to mind

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[Mike Henderson]

I agree it's not oak. It just doesn't have any of the characteristics of oak. Sycamore sounds reasonable. I don't have any of the bark any more - it all went out with the trash this morning.

I processed all of the "boards" that I took. I'll try to get one or two more that have some bark on them.

I used power tools to process this wood, and I'm sure glad I have them. I've flattened and straightened lumber by hand and I wouldn't have wanted to do all of this by hand - it was a job with power tools. Gives me a real appreciation for our woodworking ancestors.

Mike

[Mike Henderson]

Those look like rays to me so I would guess live oak. Is it quarter sawn in the area of those rays? Hard to say but the color looks correct for live oak. Kinda yellow tan. Is it denser then other oak?
Bill D

I don't think those are rays - they're just flecks. I have at least one piece that has the center pith and the wood to the side of that doesn't show rays. That wood would be quarter sawn and should show medullary rays if they were there.

Mike

[John K Jordan]

Show a picture of a board and you often get a number of guesses. Thing is, all of them are wrong except one, if you are lucky!
Problem is, many species look similar from the face of the board. It helps to know if the face is a radial (quartersawn) or tangential (plainsawn) section or something in between. The difference in appearance from even the same tree can be large.

You really need to look at the end grain. All you need is a piece about 1/2" or so square. Shave off any saw/sanding marks with a single-edged razor blade to expose clean end grain. If the wood is too hard to shave, soak it in water first. I usually don't shave the entire sample but just enough to expose several of the rings. Examine with a low power magnifier, about 10x is recommended.

The ring structure, rays, pore sizes and distribution, presence of tyloses, and other features can either give you a solid ID or eliminate a whole bunch of possibilities (guesses).
For some species, a 365nm UV light is helpful since some woods will fluoresce. For example, a UV light can positively distinguish Black Locust from end grain lookalikes.
There are also some chemical tests for some species.
Another thing that can help - calculate the density by carefully weighing and measuring a piece of the wood. That can eliminate some candidates.
Another useful clue is the odor, especially when cutting or sanding. Some are very distinctive.

I use the book Identifying Wood by R. Bruce Hoadley which is excellent for domestic hardwoods and some other species.
https://smile.amazon.com/Identifying-Wood-Accurate-Results-Simple/dp/0942391047
This got me interested in wood ID as a hobby. I now have a small library of known samples I can compare.

The online Wood Database has photos of end grain for about everything.

Oak, as an example, is so easy to positively identify with a look at the end grain. These are from the Wood Database. Note the distinctive porosity features of oak and the presence of tyloses in the large pores of white oak.

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Compare to some other species: quite a difference!
Apple, black cherry, box elder, elm, pecan
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This article on the Wood Database explains the prep and exam of samples for ID, check out section 7.
https://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/wood-identification-guide/
I have used a hand lens to examine but prefer to use a low power stereo microscope.

Another useful web site is http://hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/
It's great to look at the wide variation in specific candidates to see if one can possibly fit. He huge variation also demonstrate how it can sometimes be difficult to get accurate guesses from a picture of the wood. I have my own guesses about that wood but I won't say without looking at the end grain.

JKJ

[Warren Lake]

any tree will be different depending on where it grows. The Oak I bought from Michigan is different than oak I bought from Pennsylvannia.

[Andrew Hughes]

I can see why most don’t think it’s live oak. The stuff I’ve seen here in California doesn’t look like oak it’s really ugly and hard to dry. The trees grow very crooked and have lots of stress esp the limbs.
I my like live oak my shop sits underneath the canopy of a live oak. They are strong trees and hardly ever blow over unlike Eucalyptus. We had over 300 trees blow down a couple weeks ago. 80 mph winds took out mostly pines and eucalyptus and few odd ball trees.

[Mike Henderson]

Here are a few end grain pictures for John J. to see if this provides a better way to identify the wood.

Mike

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[Jim Tobias]

It does look like Sycamore to me.....but the flecks are more similar to lacewood. But all the Lacewood I have ever used is darker than that so I'm guessing Sycamore.

Jim

[Maurice Mcmurry]

The left side of picture 3 looks like Sycamore I have seen. Cutting Sycamore produces a distinctive smell, sort of sour and earthy not unlike cottonwood.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Here is a small fresh Sycamore sample. I will dry it and try for a better closeup.

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[Maurice Mcmurry]

473465473464 Sycamore

[Mike Henderson]

I used some of this wood in a small project and was somewhat surprised at how it changed when finish was applied. When flattened and sanded, the wood had a purplish tint to it. I use Sealcoat before applying water based finish and after I applied the Sealcoat (dewaxed shellac) the wood came out brown.

A couple of pieces had some sapwood so I put that in the middle for contrast.

Mike

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