Wood ID help please *pics*

[Jason Clark2]

Please help identify the wood below. Harvested from a yard in Gilbert AZ several months ago. 14-15" diameter, chocolate brown striped heart wood. Creamy yellow sap wood. No distinctive smell and I don't have any leaves or anything else to go on. I've included a photo of a finished piece turned from this wood.

Thanks in advance.
Jason

http://www.fourcornerswoodturning.com/mysterybark.jpg
Mystery wood bark.

http://www.fourcornerswoodturning.com/mysteryendgrain.jpg
Mystery wood end grain.

http://www.fourcornerswoodturning.com/mysteryendgrainclose.jpg
Myster wood end grain close up.

http://www.fourcornerswoodturning.com/mysteryhf.jpg
Hollow form turned from Mystery wood

[David Duke]

Don't know what the wood is but it sure is PURTY!!!!!!!!!!

Nice job on the form too.

[paul ashman]

that looks like it came from the fabled "turnin wood" tree.

[Nancy Laird]

The bark looks like maple to me--but then what do I know??? I think it's "turnin'wood," too.

Gorgeous HF, though.

Nancy (121 days)

[Mike Vickery]

Jason,
You have officially perked my interest on this today. I looked all around today and could not find anything that looked like a good match to me. I went ahead and sent the picture to a contact at the ASU botany department that has helped me a little in the past (kind of blew me off though). If I hear anything back I will let you know, but I am not holding my breath.

I wish we would have taken samples of the leaves when we were on site.

[Sean Troy]

Sure looks like it got plenty of water over the years for Arizona. Looks like some form of Acacia to me.

[Bill Wyko]

Possibly silk oak or silver oak:confused: Did the wood irritate your skin when you turned it? This wood is a little pinkish but is known to irritat skin like poison ivy.

[Jim Underwood]

I don't know what it is either, but you sure did a nice job on it this piece.

I'm jealous!;)

I want one...

[Joe Melton]

If you take a sample to a local tree trimmer, they will almost certainly tell you immediately what it is.
Nice wood and nice work.
Joe

[Richard Madison]

Jason,
You could send a sample to the U.S. Forest Service and they'll ID it for free. They like a 1"x3"x6" sample, but can do with less. Best to find their website and check the current rules for submitting samples. Beautiful wood and your HF.

[Kevin McPeek]

Is that the one from the sumac haul, that Mike and I passed on? If I had known it would turn out so good I might have jumped on that a little.

BTW Jason I'm a little better prepared for the next wood haul. I sold the Honda and picked up a new truck. I have to admit though, I have already washed it.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Jason....fantastic HF! Great form and finish.

[Hilel Salomon]

Buried in my home office is a book which will help identify wood. It requires a very powerful magnifying glass (a small microscope is better) and a small sliver of the wood. By examining the pores, one can identify the wood. Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of it, nor can I get to it anytime soon- I had to pack all my books in order to redo the floors and walls (termites) and am only about 40 % unpacked. Does anyone out there know the title? I'm reasonably sure that a library will have it. When I do get to it, I'll post the title. Beautiful work. Hilel.

[Jason Clark2]

Still haven't washed mine. 5 and 1/2 years and counting. The spare sitting in the bed has been sliding around like crazy ever since the Anchorseal got spilled back there. The monsoons have helped wash some of it out but it's still pretty bad.

Glad to hear you got a truck. Now we can haul twice as much as before :)

Jason

[Jason Clark2]

Someone suggested to me that it might be Black Locust. I roughed and cored half of the log shown above last night. After recently turning some Honey Locust I am tending to agree with that identification. Can anyone confirm?

Thanks
Jason

[Bill Wyko]

I'm sorry, I forgot to mention that the HF is beautiful:D

[Reed Gray]

It could be honey locust. I don't think it is black locust, wrong bark, and I have never seen color in the heartwood of black locust, it is usually that yellow green color throughout. The bark does look more like the honey locust, and the wood color, but the honey locust I have turned looks more open grained than what you have. It does have a nice pleasant odor when turning, kind of sweet and yeast like (ever made bread?).
robo hippy

[Kevin McPeek]

Looks like some of the Locust on Hobbit House. Come to think of it I have a little branch that someone gave me that said it was locust and IIRC the bark is similar. I'll look at it when I get home and see. It doesn't look like the Honey Locust we just got from the arboretum though. I suppose its diet could attribute to some of that though.

[William Bachtel]

It might be Chinese Locust, it is not Black Locust. Chinese Locust is a oramental yard tree and imported. Leaves wood help.

[Mike Vickery]

I heard back from an arborist I sent the pictures to and he said his best guess is Willow Acacia.

[Jason Clark2]

Thanks Mike. I'm not sure that I agree with that assessment but who am I to argue. I may swing by the site on my way home tonight to see if I can find any additional evidence. Any idea if there's anything still left?

Jason

[Kevin McPeek]

Other than one of the houses being gone it hasn't changed much.

[Mack Cameron]

[quote]It could be honey locust. That's my bet. Here's a pic of a board that I know is Honey Locust.
70509

[Don Robert]

The bark looks almost identical to my pecan tree's bark. But, I am not going to cut my tree down to check the inside color and grain.

[Jason Clark2]

Mack, Below are two pieces recently turned from wood harvested from a local arboreatum after the tree blew over in a storm. They Identified it as Honey Locust and I assume they know what they are talking about. I think I can safely say it's not Honey Locust.

http://www.fourcornerswoodturning.com/honeylcusthf.jpg
End Grain Hollow Form

http://www.fourcornerswoodturning.com/honeylocust.jpg
Honey Locust bowl.

Both were turned and finished green.

Don, I've turned Pecan before, there are a number of us here in Arizona that have access to a whole orchard of Pecan trees. I can safely say it's not Pecan.

Jason

[Mack Cameron]

Hi Jason; But those last 2 bowls aren't from the same tree as the first bowl you showed, are they? My money is still on the first one being Honey Locust, those last 2 are anyone's guess. For that last bowl, it appears to be similar in colour to a tree in Canada we call Manitoba Maple. I'm not sure why we call it that, since the leaves don't resemble a maple in the least.

[Jason Clark2]

Mack, The first hollow form is from my mystery wood. The 2 I just posted are from what the arboreatum identified as Honey Locust. Clearly they are different trees and if the arboreatum has their ID correct my mystery wood can't be Honey Locust.

Jason

[Mack Cameron]

Hi Jason; my bet still stands!:) but I've been known to be wrong before.;)

[Bill Stevener]

If it's of any help, this is what Honey Locust looks like in the tree form. Note the bark.

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m109/nicebill/hlocusttrunk.jpg

[Jason Clark2]

Bill, The photo didn't come through.

Jason

[Bill Stevener]

This is where I go when I am looking to identify some wood. But I'm not looking. I'll bet you will find it hear.
If its not hear, it ain't wood.:D

http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/indextotal.htm

[Bill Stevener]

Bill, The photo didn't come through.

Jason

comes up in my window????

[Bill Stevener]

I will try it again. Honey Locust. The bark is worse than the bight.:eek:

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m109/nicebill/hlocusttrunk.jpg

[Jason Clark2]

Mack, Manitoba Maple is usually referred to as Box Elder here in the states. I've turned more than my share of Box Elder, it's not Box Elder.

Jason

[Kevin McPeek]

Maybe that is on a less mature tree.
That looks nothing like the bark on the tree we got that was identified as Honey Locust.
Here is another picture with different bark, but more representitive of what we are seeing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Honey_locust.jpg

However, I don't believe it (mystery wood) is Honey Locust, having seen both fresh cut. Another type of locust maybe?

[Mike Vickery]

I don't mean to sound argumenative so I will apoligize in advance if I do. I was with Jason when he cut this so have seen it in person and also got some of the honey locust from the Arboreum and have turned Honey locust I got from Oregon before.
I am with Jason I would tend to take experts at their word unless I had a good reason to doubt them. So I would have no reason to doubt that the Arboreum knows what a Honey Locust is and the second pictures he posted is in fact Honey Locust. The pictures of the mystery wood does not appear to be the same wood to me. It also does not look like the Honey Locust I got from Oregon.
It can be very difficult to identify many of the tree's in Arizona since many of the species are not native to the US and are not often seen in other parts of the country. I know for a fact that Jason is familiar with many of the common species that are seen here but their are many trees that are not common but can be found from time to time.
To be honest I have no idea what the mystery wood is. By looking at the growth rings and sap wood even though this was a fairly large tree (for AZ) it looks to have been a fairly young tree that got quite a bit of water and grew very fast so it very well might look different then it usually would.
I would go with the local arborists guess of Willow (weeping) Acacia for now since I think he would be most familiar with local trees. I have no first hand knowledge with positive ID'd Willow Acacia to doubt him though he very well may be wrong. I will note Sean Troy on this board also guessed "some kind of Acacia" and I know that he is very familiar with our local trees.
===== Useless information most people wont care about=====
To make thing more confusing Acacia have over 1300 species and in 2005 it was agreed that they will break Acacia's into 5 different genra's though as far as I know a list of the break up has not been publishes so all are still considered Acacia. Also Black Locust which several people on a different board Id'd the mystery wood as is often called False Acacia even though it is not realted in any way.
So even among experts the question "what is an Acacia?" is in doubt.

So if you write the name of the wood on the piece, you might want to write it in pencil ;-)

[Sean Troy]

It's good looking wood, looks like it turns well and probably doesn't matter if it's ever figured out but you could have a contest at the Az. Woodturners meeting and see who can positively identify it to the satisfaction of a picked panel and give the winner a 25.00 gift certificate to woodcraft or something. Just a thought.

[Martin Braun]

{For those that don't know, Sean was our President [and a darned good one to boot]}

I think it's acacia too, but as Mike said, with so many different species and the unique watering schedules and environment in the desert, we may never really know which. We do know it looks good though!

[Dick Strauss]

Kevin, Mike, and Jason
You are 100% correct in saying that it isn't honey locust. The coloring is all wrong with both the sap and heartwoods. It is definitely not box elder either. Shaggy hickory is the first wood that comes to mind but it might be a bunch of other things as well. I'm sorry I'm not more help!

Take care,
Dick

[TYLER WOOD]

I have turned pecan, black, and honey locust. None of them resemble this, I would wager large ammounts of money against it being any of these. The coloration and bark is not typical of pecan. He stated no smell, so to me the locusts are out as they have a distict, pleasant aroma when turning. Honey locust is a warm yellow, to dark orange heartwood. Black locust coloration is close to my experience, but the bark seems wrong as well as the odor. Willow could be it, the bark looks correct, grain looks to be interlocking. coloration is close to my recollections. The only thing is, the willow I turned smelled like cat pee. Could be where it was growing, not sure. But if other turners could say if their willow smelled the same, that would rule out willow too. JMHO, not expertise! So we could be back to the beginning of not knowing anything other that it makes for great turning wood!