AZ wood ID help

[Mike Vickery]

I picked up some log sections at a tree trimmer today and was wondering if anyone had a good idea what they were. This is all that I could fit in my Saturn. I may go back tomarrow.

Location was in Phx AZ area
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I have an idea but do not want to influence anyones guess.
I will say my first thought was Mesquite but the bark is a whiteish gray color that looks like mesquite but is a much lighter than the Mesquite that I haev seen before. Also I usually do not see this much sap wood and it as white as it is on this log. But I am not a Mesquite expert by any meens.
Thanks in advance for any help.

[Christopher K. Hartley]

It looks a whole lot like the Elm I got recently. You can see what I mean here: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=46391 :)

[John Hart]

It looks a whole lot like the Elm I got recently.:)

Yep...that's my guess too. An elm in the back yard of our old house had that same thick band of white sapwood and an appealing dark brown center.

Looks great, whatever it is! Congratulations Mike!

[Martin Braun]

If it didn't have thorns on it, then it wasn't native :) . I'm sure it's not mesquite. The closest mesquite would get to those colors is maybe velvet mesquite, but the texture of the bark rules that out. By the way, the Riparian preserve on Guadalupe & Greenfield (behind the library) is a great place to check out some native trees. That said, so much of the suburban wood around here is non-native, so there's a lot of "mystery wood" to be had.

I have some wood that I picked up from down the street. Bulk trash day almost always yields logs somewhere in the neighborhood. I have no idea what it is, but boy it stinks - a weird kind of bush smell to it.

[Curt Fuller]

That's simple, it's danged nice wood. Send one of those chunks my way an I'll get right down to the nitty gritty of it.

[Jason Hallowell]

I agree w/ everyone else, most definately not mesquite, and it looks like elm to me also, which is pretty common around suburban phx.

[David Walser]

Mike,

If you have too much of that wood, I'd be glad to take some of it off your hands! Mesa (where I live) isn't too far from Gilbert.:)

[Mike Vickery]

It is darker than any on the elm I have seen. But I have never seen AZ elm before. I have not idea if their were thorns it was in log sections when I got their.

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here are 2 pictures of one of the cutoffs sanded and oiled.

I have to say I had myself convinced that it was not Mesquite because of the color of the bark and the thickness of the sap wood. But the heart wood looks alot like mesquite to me.

[John Hart]

Well lets get to a different matter...now that you've smoothed out a piece. How's the ingrain look? I can't tell from the picture. The colors and grain look like Koa. What's the chance of that? Well...whatever it is....It's mighty fine looking Dunnowood.

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Mike, the real giveaway, if it is Elm, will be in the appearance of the sap wood. Look closely at the grain in this attached: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=47052 as you can see it is very distinct in its appearance. Anyway you look at it you've got some great stuff there. Oh ya, if it is anything like the stuff I have, get ready to take a shower when you turn it. I thought I was turning Bananna tree trunks it was so wet.:)

[Bob Hallowell]

I'm a northern Boy so I have know clue what it is, But I do know this I want some that is some nice stuff! Good score.

Bob

[Sean Troy]

It looks like Acacia

[Jason Hallowell]

How hard is it? What does it smell like? I have seen some desert ironwood (a close cousin to mesquite) that looks an awful lot like that, but I would think you would have mentioned it eating your saw blade. If I could smell it I could tell you for sure what it is.

[Reed Gray]

If it is Elm, then it will have a very distinct smell. like the cats have been spraying it. That smell will go away as it dries. It isn't the same color as the elm I have seen, but the grain pattern looks similar. Also, I haven't seen that much sap wood on the pieces of elm that I have.
robo hippy

[Christopher K. Hartley]

If it is Elm, then it will have a very distinct smell. like the cats have been spraying it. That smell will go away as it dries. It isn't the same color as the elm I have seen, but the grain pattern looks similar. Also, I haven't seen that much sap wood on the pieces of elm that I have.
robo hippyThat's funny, mine smelled like popcorn. I wonder if it is the difference in the soil.:)

[David Fried]

Looks like Shlamaca Wood . I think John hart has expertise in that area :D

[Rusty Smith]

That's funny, mine smelled like popcorn. I wonder if it is the difference in the soil.:)

Christopher, it's probably just the difference in cats :D

If that is elm, it is WAY different than the elm I am used to from my adopted home state of Kansas.

[John Hart]

Looks like Shlamaca Wood . I think John hart has expertise in that area :D

Nope. I never did finish Mark Singer's Shlamaca Identification Correspondence Klass (SICK). He's the real expert.;)

[Bob Hallowell]

No, Chris cats just didn't pee on yours :)

Bob

[Mike Vickery]

Thanks everyone I have been hasihing it out with a couple people familiar with AZ woods on another forum as well.
I think I will call it ironwood someone can call me liar later if they want. It is hard but I do not have enough chainsaw experience to really determine how hard I would guess it as harder than the Mesquite I have cut but not by that much. The blade could have used a good sharpening after the second log section which is worse than I usually do with mesquite.
I will probably work a trade with a local guy I know that is much more familiar with wood than me and hopefully he can cast the decideing vote.

[Martin Braun]

To me it looked too straight grained to be iron wood. I have never seen iron wood with light grey bark like that. I believe if it was iron wood, you'd need a carbide tipped chain to cut it. I got into some "old growth" mesquite last year, and with standard chains I could barely get through one cut without the chain going dull. My $0.02. I could most certainly be wrong, and certainly if it was suburban wood it could have been watered so much that it is not as dense as what one would find in the desert.

[Frank Chaffee]

Well Mike,
Without a .snf file it’s hard to tell. Trees grow differently in different climates, but the bark on that one doesn’t look like walnut/butternut/elm. Kinda has a hickory shag to it.
Idonow.
Frank

[Dale Overman]

I Guess it is ironwood. I had a chance to salvage some pretty large scrapes from a man I met at a show and have enjoyed turning them. I found that after turning and sanding when I put any kind of finish on the sapwood it turned a pretty yellow with brown specks in it. It looked very light, almost white until I put Danish oil or friction polish or anything else on and the color just popped out.