Wood ID

[Jerry Solomon]

A family member sent me the attached photo of a table she has. She wants to know what type of wood it is made from. In looking at the photo, I might guess maple. It doesn't appear to be some of the more common things I have worked with like red/white oak, mahogany, or walnut. When I get beyond those I really have to start guessing. Anybody want to play "name that wood"?

[Lee Schierer]

Have her take some more photos without the glare from the windows. Shots, straight down toward the table top. Don't use a flash.

[Dave Roock]

Looks like Oak with the Golden Oak stain color - very popular some years back.

[Sean Nagle]

Alder top.

[Frank Pratt]

Definitely not oak.

[Brian Tymchak]

Could be Birch but I'm leaning towards Beech. Would like a shot of end grain.

[Prashun Patel]

Is that made by Canadel by any chance?

I suspect Birch if it was a North American larger scale manufacturer.

[Dave Zellers]

I need to see a picture of the bark.

Barring that, agree with birch.

[Andrew Seemann]

Hard to tell from the picture, but I see little ray flecks in the top, so probably maple. Oak and beech have fleck, but it doesn't have the grain of beech or the pores of oak.

Bottom and skirting under the top look more like birch or maybe well stained poplar.

[Jim Morgan]

100% certain that it is tree-wood. Beyond that ...

Wood identification from clear, high-resolution photographs of cleanly cut end grain is generally accurate.

Wood identification from blurry, low resolution photographs of face grain, particularly when it is stained and commercially finished, is little better than guessing.

[Alex Zeller]

Looks more like birch than maple to me. The maple I use the grain pattern is different. Often there's a difference in color that makes the long wavy grain stand out.