what wood is this

[alex carey]

Can anyone tell me what wood this is? The first piece is of the wood after being in a bag for like a month. I put it in a bag the day after it was cut down. The other pictures are made from the same wood after it had been in a bag for like 6+ months. It got much darker with time as you can tell.

Also I live in Southern California near the beach if it helps.
Alex

[Leo Van Der Loo]

It does look like Maple
Nice bowl and vases

[Christopher Fletcher]

My guess is magnolia. Was this a dump find or do you have seeds/fruit to reference?

[alex carey]

no it wasn't a dump. I have a friend who cuts down trees so it is completely fresh and when hes in the area he hooks me up. Sadly I don't remember the leaves or anything. I asked him and he said it was Carob, though every wood turned I've talked to has said it's not.

The things I can say are this, it isn't really hard or soft, it turns very nicely, when I turned the older pieces it smelt like alcohol. Although I forgot the leaves I remember it was probably 20-30 feet tall.

Thats about it.

Alex

[curtis rosche]

magnolia, im guessing, it looks like a plain grain

[Sean Troy]

no it wasn't a dump. I have a friend who cuts down trees so it is completely fresh and when hes in the area he hooks me up. Sadly I don't remember the leaves or anything. I asked him and he said it was Carob, though every wood turned I've talked to has said it's not.

The things I can say are this, it isn't really hard or soft, it turns very nicely, when I turned the older pieces it smelt like alcohol. Although I forgot the leaves I remember it was probably 20-30 feet tall.

Thats about it.

Alex
It's not carob. Carob would have a lot of red in the heart wood.

[Prashun Patel]

I read an article in FWW that talked about Madrone which is an evergreen on the West Coast, popular for use in California.

The pinkish color and light grain reminds me of that.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Not sure of the wood but those are great looking pieces.

[Reed Gray]

My first guess would be maple, but the smell isn't right. Maple can smell like bread yeast some times. I did turn some magnolia once, and it reminded me of turpentine. Don't think it is carob, as said before, it is pinkish/maroon in the heart wood. Doesn't look like madrone to me, and I turn a lot of it.
robo hippy

[Christopher Fletcher]

Alex,
Whatever type of wood it is, you did a nice job on that 1st shape and the color streaks in 3rd one are very interesting. Did that last one warp on you a bit? If you ever want to swap wood, I've got a boatload of Pecan and Avocado down in San Diego!

[alex carey]

I checked on some pictures of the madrone and I don't really remember the tree looking like that.

Yeah that one warped on me a bit, most of the pieces didn't change at all though. On the hole this has been one of my favorites types of wood. That is why I want to know what it is, so I can get more if i get a chance.

As much as I'd love to get some more wood Chris I am almost out of this stuff, I only have a few big pieces and a bunch of smaller pieces. On a really sad note my lathe broke down for the second time with the same problem. I have a General International maxi lathe 25-200. I have really enjoyed it for the most part but the VS has broken twice on me. The first time it took the company over a month to finally replace the headstock. And now the same thing happened after turning this last piece. Hopefully they'll replace it again. I don't know why it keeps breaking but I have heard of other complaints on other websites.

Alex

[Christopher Fletcher]

No worries, I don't have any friends in the tree trimming biz. Anything I aquire I usually have to do the cutting. I'm no arborist, so I try and keep it simple. The offer stands :-)

[alex carey]

where do you do the cutting, because I might be interested. My tree guy is pretty unreliable and I can't normally get to him because of school on the weekdays.

Alex

[Christopher Fletcher]

where do you do the cutting, because I might be interested. My tree guy is pretty unreliable and I can't normally get to him because of school on the weekdays.

Alex

I stay as local as possible. I drive an f150 so gas is a big factor in where I'll go for wood. Occasionally I'll drive up through OC to see friends, but haven't for wood. Locally a guy was trying to sell a large black walnut he cut down. If it had been closer I might have considered buying it and then fleabaying some to recoup.

[alex carey]

well if you ever make a trip not too far from me I'd be more than happy to join you in tree hunting. I got a big ol chainsaw and I love getting new wood.

alex

[Joe Kaufman]

My guess would be Jacaranda, especially the first picture. It has a slight odor when turning, but to me, not as strong or definite as alcohol. The grain pattern reminds me of Ash though lighter in color and not open. I agree on the stability, hardness and that it turns nicely. Wish I would have picked up more, I had no idea of the qualities at the time.

Joe