Wood Identification

[Mike Congiusti]

Guys,

I picked this up at our woodworking club. They said it was cherry. After planing it I don't think this is US Cherry. It almost looks like Brazilian Cherry. Can anyone tell me if I'm right? It has a coat of satin General finish.

Thanks,

Mike

501171

[Mel Fulks]

Certainly not Cherry. Possibly bubinga , or some other foreign stuff.

[Mark Gibney]

Agree with Mel, something tropical.
How well did it plane? How heavy or light is it? Any smell when you work it?

[Mel Fulks]

This just in ….to memory bank ! Brazilian Cherry is the name …….but it’s a fake name since it’s NOT Cherry. Could be a wood “on the
run”

[Mike Congiusti]

It's very heavy but it planed easy. I had Brazilian cherry floors in my previous home and that's why I thought that's what it was. I'm going to have a word with the woodroom manager.

[Andrew Hughes]

I vote for Bubinga when my eyes looked upon the pic my nose started running and my skin started itching.
Severely allergic to Bubinga
Good Luck

[Edward Weber]

I would look at Jatoba or Bocote on the wood database
https://www.wood-database.com/wood-filter/

[Prashun Patel]

From a distance, it looks like sapele. But that wouldn't be 'heavy'

[Mel Fulks]

Bing says “ trub, trub ,trouble at the rub bub bubble bub-binga”. Haven’t heard THAT in a while !

[Tony Shea]

I vote for Jatoba. I believe Jatoba is what they often call "Brazilian Cherry" for some reason. I have a small amount of Jatoba that I use to make wood hand planes out of. Very dense wood but not super exciting figure, although has nice color with a finish.

[Aaron Rosenthal]

I use a wood like that for my decking projects; locally we call it “Pedra”.
It’s a heavy wood and has a distinct odour, the grain is remarkable. I definitely wear a respirator when machining it indoors.
My understanding is that because of it’s water resistance it’s used for pier and pile construction in Brazil.

[Mike Congiusti]

Prashun, looks like you are the winner. I went up to the shop and found out it's Sapele.

[glenn bradley]

From a distance, it looks like sapele. But that wouldn't be 'heavy'

That was my knee-jerk reaction as well. I do have some sepele that is pretty stout. The more ribbon-like figured stuff I have is lighter but the "mahogany substitute" looking stuff I have has a bit of weight to it. Could we get a shot of some clean cut end grain?

[Jonathan Jung]

Looks like sapele to my limited experience

[dirk martin]

I vote for Bubinga when my eyes looked upon the pic my nose started running and my skin started itching.
Severely allergic to Bubinga
Good Luck

Where there you have it. I say Andrew's nose knows.

[Tom Bender]

Having trouble calling it Sapele. It's heavy but planes well, not in my experience, same for Cherry.