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Thread: Anyone know what species of wood this is?

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    Anyone know what species of wood this is?

    Shave a small section of the end grain with a single-edged razor blade and compare it to closeups of the candidate guesses using pics in the Wood Database. Many wood species have very distinctive structure evident in the end grain, rings, porosity distribution, early/late wood differences, and more.

    JKJ
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    Last edited by John K Jordan; 09-21-2020 at 10:36 PM.

  2. #2
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    How dense is it, similar to oak? I think it is interesting to note that almost all the wood sold for lumber is sold by common name but for some reason Monterey pine is always sold as "Radiata". No one sells redwood as sequoia but I have seen fir died red and sold as red wood. Some of the tropical hardwood is sold by species name but at the box stores tropical hardwood plywood is sold as "plywood" with no other identification. Eucalyptus has something like 700 species all sold just as eucalyptus in the USA. 1882 They planted Eucalyptus in California to grow for hardwood lumber. Of course they choose one of the worst timber trees. The wood is too twisted and splits while still growing. It has spread al lover california in locations where it does not have a hard freeze. The oil in the trees make them burn very hot and the bark can fly for 1/4 miles in the air as it burns. The ones at UC Berkeley are the tallest hardwoods in North America and still growing. It does make good firewood but watch for sparks up the chimney and onto the floor.
    Bill D.
    Last edited by Bill Dufour; 09-21-2020 at 10:29 AM.

  3. #3
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    Definitely not oak. The grain and quartersawn grain in the first picture particularly makes me think maple. The dark shading though makes me curious.
    Brian

    "Any intelligent fool can make things bigger or more complicated...it takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." - E.F. Schumacher

  4. #4
    Is it lightweight? Like about the weight of pine?

    If yes, then I vote for butternut. Because of the swirly, gnarly nature of b-nut, i see it on pallets every now and then.

    If it's heavy, then I vote for elm - but only because the 1st pic resembles it; I don't see it on pallets or crates that often.

  5. #5
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    It doesn't seem to be as dense as oak.

  6. #6
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    Yeah, Prashun suggested butternut or elm, and those would make sense.

  7. #7
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    It looks like maple with some bad fungi problems. If it is Maple with a terrible fungus it would be in the Acer species.
    Aj

  8. #8
    Maple was the first thing that popped into my mind.

    Erik
    Ex-SCM and Felder rep

  9. #9
    Some kind of maple based on the grain and ray fleck pattern and lack of open pores (ruling out walnut, butternut, ashes, oaks, etc). The coloring appears to be either from heartwood or exposure to weather or both. Maple often has a grayish heartwood. Maple has no resistance to rot, mold, mildew, etc. so discoloration is not surprising for wood that may have sat outside.

  10. #10
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    The only wood I have ever seen that has those little light color splotches like in pic 3 and 4 is poplar. The color and medullary ray pattern in the first pic also look like poplar to me. I vote Poplar
    Last edited by Andrew Gibson; 09-22-2020 at 8:31 AM.
    Andrew Gibson
    Program Manger and Resident Instructor
    Florida School Of Woodwork

  11. #11
    Looks like a lot of the wormy maple we keep around here.

  12. #12
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    San Diego, CA
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    I am with Andrew, Poplar. I have boards just like that one.
    Epilog Mini 24-45W, Corel Draw X6, Photoshop CS5, Multi Cam CNC

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