Orangewood?

[Doug Whitson]

A friend gave me this piece of wood and for the life of me I can't figure out what it is. It looks brown on the outside but when you put a tool to it the shavings and dust are orange - no, I mean really orange. Take a look and help me put a name to this stuff please.
Thanks,
Doug in AZ. 46478

46479

[Frank Fusco]

If it is heavy and very hard, osage orange is a good possibliity. It cuts bright yellow/orange but exposure to light darkens it after a while.

[Jim Becker]

I've always found Osage Orange to be more bright yellow, but my experience with it has always been "green". Perhaps when dried it's more orange. The end grain in that picture is very much like it, too.

[Mike Palmer]

My guess would be Padauk.

[Rod Torgeson]

I agree with Mike, that looks likes Padauk more so then Osage Orange.

[Steve Clardy]

I just turned a plane knob out of padauk. Sure looks the same

[Doug Whitson]

Thanks for the comments all. I looked at some pics on line of Padauk, the long grain just doesn't seem consistant with what I have. Padauk's grain (at least on the web) more closely resembles a mahagony to me. I've never seen either Bucote or Padauk in "person" so I'm just guessing and you guys would know better. I can tell you this, the wood is HARD and those shavings are as orange as a Borg apron. Anybody had any dealings with Bucote?

Thanks again for the help,

Doug in AZ.

[Alan DuBoff]

Thanks for the comments all. I looked at some pics on line of Padauk, the long grain just doesn't seem consistant with what I have. Padauk's grain (at least on the web) more closely resembles a mahagony to me. I've never seen either Bucote or Padauk in "person" so I'm just guessing and you guys would know better. I can tell you this, the wood is HARD and those shavings are as orange as a Borg apron. Anybody had any dealings with Bucote?

Thanks again for the help,

Doug in AZ.I had a piece of bocote that didn't look anything like that. Bocote is a rosewood, or in the rosewood family, and as such is dark.

Here's a piece of birdseye bocote that I don't have anymore, sent it off to Steve Knight to make a dovetail hand plane for me.

(linky image)

http://www.softorchestra.com/woodworking/new_wood/small_birdseye_bocote.jpg (http://www.softorchestra.com/woodworking/new_wood/9.html)

[Kevin McBride]

Hey Doug,

I just got done making a desk out of walnut and osage or what we here in Iowa call 'hedge'. When it is first cut and for quite a while after, it is bright yellow. But with time it turns a brownish orange color, similiar to what the picture shows.

I have not seen padauk.

Kevin

[Jim W. White]

Padauk is very much orange when milled and very much NOT when aged. It is very heavy and much denser than mahogony. I'm pretty sure it's what your dealing with.

[Nick Roper]

There's no doubt in my mind it's Padauk. One look at that dust sends chills down my spine. My first encounter with it rendered a beautiful lamp and 24 hrs in the hospital. Cocobolo, Rosewood, Poison Ivy, no problem, but this stuff just leaves me breathless. (Literally)

[Seth Poorman]

Padauk...........Padauk....;)

[Frank Fusco]

There's no doubt in my mind it's Padauk. One look at that dust sends chills down my spine. My first encounter with it rendered a beautiful lamp and 24 hrs in the hospital. Cocobolo, Rosewood, Poison Ivy, no problem, but this stuff just leaves me breathless. (Literally)

Without seeing it in person, I won't debate whether OO or paduk. On the side of paduk is the fact he has a fairly long hunk of 2X. OO is seldom cut that way, in fact it is hard to get any that will mill into dimension lumber. As to toxicity, I resaw quite a bit of OO and must wear a mask and have put a dust collector on the bandsaw. Despite that the shop is covered, and I do mean 'covered' with yellow dust. It seems to stick and cling like crazy. Can only imagine what it would do to the inside of lungs.

[Keith Christopher]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padauk
http://www.woodmagazine.com/wood/story.jhtml?storyid=/templatedata/wood/story/data/wood_profiles_padauk.xml


I'm thinking Padauk.