Different red revisited

[Jake Debski]

I have asked several local woodworkers, and I'm still looking for a consensus on what wood this is. These are my first attempts at macro photography. I hope they adequately show the grain.
Thanks for again any attempts at identification. All previous suggestions were appreciated.

 

[Steve Worcester]

Typically, you would need to look at the leaves and the bark as the color of the wood itself varies greatly with the soil and locations.
Not knowing where on the planet it came from, I am going with Pecan

 

[Richard Coers]

Unless we can see end grain, bark, and maybe a highly magnified slice of end grain, you are not going to get a consensus of species from a picture. I think there is a procedure set up by the Forestry lab in Wisconsin that will positively identify the species. No idea of cost.
I still think it is plum.

 

[Steve Worcester]

Unless we can see end grain, bark, and maybe a highly magnified slice of end grain, you are not going to get a consensus of species from a picture. I think there is a procedure set up by the Forestry lab in Wisconsin that will positively identify the species. No idea of cost.
I still think it is plum.

US Forestry service will do it for free (I think one per year) , you will need to send them a piece of the wood, and it takes about 6 weeks

http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/research/centers/woodanatomy/wood_idfactsheet.php

 

[robo hippy]

My first thought was that it might be walnut. If so, it has a strong distinct smell, but really hard to tell from just the picture. Leaves, bark, wood, and seeds are the primary identifiers, and smell comes in to play some times as well.

 

[Jake Debski]

US Forestry service will do it for free (I think one per year) , you will need to send them a piece of the wood, and it takes about 6 weeks

http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/research/centers/woodanatomy/wood_idfactsheet.php

Thanks Steve, I'll send one of the pieces I have and see what I get. Below is a copy of a reply to my original post. That is why I revisited.

"Old 01-26-2010, 10:08 PM

John Jordan

Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Cane Ridge (Nashville), TN
Posts: 142
Default
Close up pics would be helpful, but those could well be plum. They are NOT any kind of locust, which is not like plum, which is not like carob. They are all very different woods. If that wood is fine grained, plum is a possibility-could be an old apple which is very similar.

A good close up picture, and I can tell you.

John
__________________
www.johnjordanwoodturning.com
Last edited by John Jordan : 01-26-2010 at 10:12 PM."

 

[pfduffy]

''wood ID"

Hi Jake, I vote for pearwood, as in decorative pear trees. Nice pics. Phil

 

[Bill Weaver]

Typically, you would need to look at the leaves and the bark as the color of the wood itself varies greatly with the soil and locations.
Not knowing where on the planet it came from, I am going with Pecan

X2 I agree (pecan)

 

[Don O. Jr.]

Tough One

Hi Jake,

As has been said it is very difficult to determine the species of wood from these kind of photos.

Two things I am sure of-it is not Walnut or Pecan (which is a type of Hickory). Both have a much more open (ring porous) grain than this seems to have.

My reasonably uneducated guesstimate is Box Elder because of the red staining. If it was Plum, the whole blank would be red except for a thin strip of sapwood. Box Elder is a Maple (Acer negundo), is ligthweight when dry, and smells kind of like a wet dog when turned green-the wood, not the dog. It can grow very fast and have wide growth rings. It is also called Ash-leaved Maple because the leaves resemble those of an Ash tree (imagine that).

The Forest Service lab will tell you for sure. I think they will do 5 samples per year for free.

Make sure you let us know what you find out.

Coming to Totally Turning this year ?

 

[Jake Debski]

Thank you to everyone who has responded. I am sending a small piece to the U.S. Forest Service. The piece is smaller than what the Service recommends but maybe it will be enough. In the original thread back in January I explained that the wood was cut locally in Western New York. I am very familiar with Hickory but have never seen a Pecan tree growing locally. If there is one, it would most certainly be yard ornamental, whether or not they would survive in our climate I do not know. I have turned lots of Box Elder and this is not that specie. I think, a cultivated or even wild fruit wood of one sort or another, as has been mentioned, is what I have. With any luck the Forest Service will have the answer.