Mystery wood

[Gary Beasley]

I have a mystery on my hands. A beautiful slab I bought from another woodturner and neither of us can figure out what it is.

Heres a view of some bark on the slab
End grain here
And the side grain
The wood seems a bit harder than maple and turns with little to no tearout. You can see the chatoyance on the first shot. Ive never seen anything like it before.

 

[Brian Gustin]

Looks like the Catalpa I turned, but then I only had the one small chunk (about 8" Dia. x 10" long) so that'd be my guess based on the wood color & grain.

 

[John Dillon]

Doesn't look like any Catalpa I've turned. Similar look as some Myrtle Burl I turned. However, as pretty as it was, I don't remember that much chatoyance in the Myrtle burl as your piece appears to have.

 

[Dean Center]

The first picture reminds me of mango, but I've not had much of it and IIRC, it's not especially hard.

 

[Gabriel Hoff]

I think it is Figured Myrtle. I have turned this wood, and it looks pretty similar. Take a look here, some of the pieces look close to yours. https://www.cookwoods.com/collections/myrtle?

 

[robo hippy]

Thought I commented on this already, but apparently not. My first thought was myrtle/California Bay Laurel. It is a marketing thing, kind of like Brazilian Cherry. It is not a myrtle in any way shape or form.... The only difference between Oregon Myrtle wood and California Bay Laurel is the state border..... Myrtle will have a sweet spicy smell to it, unless it is starting to rot, and then it smells like a horse stall. Catalpa does have a sweetish smell to it that I do not like at all. Probably some figured bay... If you live in Oregon, you have to turn some of it.... All the tourists want it. It does have an interlocking grain, and the higher grit you sand to, the more it glows.

robo hippy

 

[Gary Beasley]

Myrtle looks lighter than this wood, but the figure is similar.

 

[Kevin Jesequel]

My intitial thought was also of Oregon Myrtle. It can have a wide range of color, even in the same block of wood. This is two sides of the same piece:


It does tend to have very distinct dark lines between the growth rings, which I believe I see in your photo of the endgrain.

 

[Leo Van Der Loo]

My first look was "Black Walnut burl", but probably not, certainly no Catalpa, a lightweight and soft wood, that smells to me like shoe polish ;-))




Large chunks of dry Catalpa wood.

 

[Gary Beasley]

That second picture of the Oregon Myrtle looks close. Wouldnt mind seeing a closer view of the grain.

 

[Kevin Jesequel]

This myrtle burl looks closer to your piece:

 

[Gary Beasley]

Thats darn near an exact match, thanks!