update to identify this wood

[Julio Navarro]

I cut the pith before it could split and here's what I found.

Can any one tell me what sort of wood this is?

The bad part is that the whole entire tree, save for this small chunk, was reduced to chips. and it was a huge tree, maybe 30" to 40" in diameter.

I'll take some pics of the tree right next to it which should be the next one to come down, I just hope I am around to save some.

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close up of the good side

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this is the plith

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[Bill Boehme]

It is white oak -- in other words, any oak with round lobed leaves of which there are more than a hundred varieties. White oaks include post oak, black jack oak, burr oak, etc.

Bill

[Julio Navarro]

so is white oak good for turning?

[Bill Boehme]

I think that it is one of the most beautiful woods around, but if the wood is green, you need to be especially vigilent about cracks and have a bottle of CA at the ready. After rough turning, I would coat the entire piece with Anchorseal and let it dry for at least six months. I have not tried boiling yet, but it would be the ultimate test for the boiling method.

Bill

[John Shuk]

Call me crazy but that doesn't look like any White Oak I've seen.
It almost looks like an exotic.

[Julio Navarro]

I think that it is one of the most beautiful woods around, but if the wood is green, you need to be especially vigilent about cracks and have a bottle of CA at the ready. After rough turning, I would coat the entire piece with Anchorseal and let it dry for at least six months. I have not tried boiling yet, but it would be the ultimate test for the boiling method.

Bill
wow sounds like a lot of work

[Julio Navarro]

Call me crazy but that doesn't look like any White Oak I've seen.
It almost looks like an exotic.

the picture was taken just after I cut the plinth out, it was very wet and has a very strong smell, it is now a bit lighter though the dark part is still dark it is just not so dark and rich now.

I will try and get the leaf

[Mike Armstrong]

I'm not good at guessing woods, but I'm gonna vote for Sycamore. The flecks/rays look a lot like the Sycamore I've worked. It'll help to see a leaf.

Mike

[Julio Navarro]

if I remember correctly its a small round leaf and has alot of spanish moss it almost looks like a weeping willow, but I suppose spanish moss can grow on any tree.

[Julio Navarro]

this is interesting about spanish moss:

"In the southern U.S., the plant seems to show a distinct preference of growth on southern live oak (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_live_oak) and swamp cypress (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swamp_cypress), but it can colonize in other tree species such as sweetgum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweetgum), crape-myrtle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crape-myrtle), other oaks, or even pine."

so oak is a good call, but it could be swamp cypress, which in fact this area is a built on a swamp!

[Julio Navarro]

this is pretty much the size of the tree they cut down! And it looks like the tree
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Live-Oak-Collins.jpg

and to think all that is left is that small block

[Parker Nicholson]

That is red oak (hence the strong smell) the short rays are also a clue.

[Barbara Gill]

If the wood feels much heavier than you expect for the size and there are orange streaks it might be what I just got from Florida. It was identified as Florida Rosewood. The pictures sure do look like what I have.

[Bill Boehme]

Post oak is probably the most abundant tree throughout south-central through north Texas and I have cut many cords of it for firewood. It does have a wonderfully pungent smell when freshly cut. BTW, the smell of red oak is almost identical. It could be either white or red, but I am betting on white because of the size and abundance of medullary rays. There is also a strong contrast between the heart and sapwoods that is more pronounced than it is for red oak. I don't think that it is live oak because live oak has an interlocking grain structure that is tighter and less porous than white oak. And white oak is less porous than red oak. There are also many varieties of oak that are crosses between the main groups. I have a tree that has the leaf pattern of white oak, the vertical structure of a red oak and is evergreen like a live oak.

You certainly did the right thing by promptly removing the "pith" to reduce the tendency to split. BTW, a "plinth" is the board across the bottom of a dresser or similar piece of furniture.

Bill

[Dick Strauss]

I'm with Mike...I vote for sycamore (plane). I've got a spalted piece that looks exactly like that waiting for me in the garage.

Does it have a smooth peeling bark layer that looks like a jigsaw puzzle? If so it is probably sycamore...

Julio, please show us the bark and leaves if possible to help.

[John Shuk]

Lokks nothing like any sycamore I've seen. Usually the grain in sycamore isn't so visible. It's a pretty close grained wood. I'd have to go with Barbara here. It definately looks rosewood like to me and nothin like any oak I've seen.
This is sycamore. I've seen it get fairly dark but not like that.

[Dick Strauss]

I've seen several sycamore logs in excess of 30" that had a decayed interior showing exactly the same dark coloration in the middle and similar fleck/grain pattern. If I had a digicam, I'd post pics of my blanks that came from a local source.

John,
You need to remember that what wood looks like in the log form isn't necessarily what you buy as lumber. Most of the various wood tones are removed before the consumer ever sees it. How much sapwood do you see when you buy cherry or black walnut...very little if it is considered "good lumber". The visible fleck in wood depends on how close to QS it is. As you get further from the center of the log, the more the fleck pattern disappears. Don't get me wrong...I'm not trying to bust your chops!

It could be from a white/red oak that had a diseased center. Several years ago I felled a 36" white oak tree that suffered from oak wilt disease and looked similar (IIRC). Barb might be right as well. But, let's not discount sycamore without more info.

Julio,
Leaf and bark pics sure would help!

[Noble Bowes]

to me looks like cocoboloa

[Thom Sturgill]

Heartwood does look like Florida Rosewood. Like Barbara said it would be heavy, but so is oak. Florida rosewood sapwood tend toward yellow. I'm across the state from Tampa and we have a lot of it here. Our club (Treasure Coast Woodturners) has been getting some from a trailer park chain that planted them back when they started the parks and are removing them now. Showing the bark side would help.

[Roger Chandler]

Wow......this thread was dug out of the archives from 2006.......wonder if the original poster even cares anymore?

[Jamie Donaldson]

Its Live Oak.

[Mike Cruz]

It IS a turning, ashes, rotted, cracked, or a combination of those!

[Dan Hintz]

Wow......this thread was dug out of the archives from 2006.......wonder if the original poster even cares anymore?

I'm wondering how someone comes across such an old thread trying to identify a piece of wood... not like it's a technical question that comes up in a search.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

It is Oak, typical rays and bark edge, also see the rays showing on the end grain cut, very dark and un-equal in the amount of sapwood, but that doesn't disprove it is Oak, yes it is heavy even when dry.

Here's a Sycamore blank where you can see the bark and bark edge and also the wood endgrain

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This is another picture (old) that shows the long grain and bark edge of a Sycamore blank.

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This one shows the flecks of Sycamore (sorry it is the only picture I have with the flecks showing well)

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