What type of spalted wood is this?

[Randy Heinemann]

I originally believed the blank this bowl came from was cherry; spalted cherry to be exact. The blank was colored very much like cherry would be as it ages and its was sitting in my shop for a couple of years. It was waxed completely. However, when I turned it, the wood began to look very much like spalted maple I've turned before. Then, I saw pictures online of some spalted ash and it began to look like ash. I'm just wondering if there is a way to be sure what it is. For me, there is no reason to actually know except that I like to identify the wood when I sign the bowl. Thanks for any help you can give.

 

[hockenbery]

Looks like maple. maybe some ambrosia streaks.

Ash is ring porous and I don’t see that in the photo.

 

[Joe Kaufman]

Resembles Liquidambar / Sweetgum.

 

[Richard Coers]

My guess is soft maple due to some ambrosia markings on it as well.

 

[Lou Jacobs]

A 3rd vote for ambrosia maple.

 

[Roger Chandler]

yep....Ambrosia maple.

 

[William Rogers]

ambrosia maple

 

[Dave Landers]

If I'm almost sure I'll guess (in this case I'd guess "maple") and put that on the bowl with my signature. When I'm really not sure, I just don't write it down. If someone asks, I might be honest and say "not sure, but I think it might be this or that ..." or sometimes I go with something like "I thought this spoke for itself without us needing to know the kind of wood"...

 

[Tim Tucker]

Maple. Have a lot of it here, and that looks like it is from a log I have here that several bowls have come from.

 

[Glenn Lefley]

You can eliminate ash. As cell structure is not there . And Cherry doesn’t spalt like that with the ambrosia effect and colouring. so I think your left with what everyone else is saying. Good old maple!

 

[Randy Heinemann]

Thanks for the help. I'll just go with maple. The only reason I was confused was that, before turning, the wood was reddish in color on the outside similar to cherry after some aging, but maybe that was just due to discoloration of the wax coating.

 

[Tim Tucker]

I understand the confusion. I just rough turned - what I thought was an enormous monkey pod crotch piece. It was waxed and aged ....so nice and brown. ...But when I drilled a center hole for mounting a faceplate...I smelled the un-mistakable, and VERY pungent aroma of Camphor..... I had not even noticed the smell when it was on the band saw because of the dust collector sucking the smell out of the shop!. This piece is currently 25" in diameter.

 

[Mark Jundanian]

I bought a waxed block from an estate. Lovely chocolate brown with a tag reading English walnut. Started working it and it wasn't remotely like walnut. I sent a cut off for analysis and it came back teak. So even a label is no guarantee of identity.

 

[Leo Van Der Loo]

By the looks of it, the piece was covered in a black mold that is mostly sanded off now, for width of the growth rings and the color that is showing still, I would bet it is Silver Maple, it has that reddish color unlike Hard Maple that is more white.

As for the Ambrosia streak, there are a few more trees species that do get those, like for instance Sycamore.

Here are two pictures of Silver Maple pieces I have turned that still show that reddish color.

 

[Randy Heinemann]

Thanks for the input. Here is the bowl finished with beeswax/mineral oil. It does look like spalted maple.