I bought 500 b/f of maple the other day and there was 4 boards on top of the pile that were dark gray, rough cut 6″x4/4×8′ pieces that the seller threw in. He said they might be oak but it was obvious they weren’t, but hey, free wood, so I took them.
A couple days later I got curious and threw one on the planer. I was amazed at what came out! A very fine grained wood with really cool colors that I had never seen before. How about you guys and gals? Ever see this wood before?
Rob
Replies
OK I'm curious. How hard or soft is it? Does it omit an odor when sawn? Looks like it could be soft maple, or even an elm species.
Do you know what it is?
Jeff
Jeff,
It is pretty hard. i haven't sawn any of it yet. When I planed it I didn't notice any smell. I don't think it is any kind of maple, but it could be.
No I don't know what it is.
Rob
I've read through this. I'll tell you what it isn't. It isn't sugar maple, and it isn't alder. I have worked extensively with both. Alder, although it is listed as a hardwood, is so soft you can carve it with your thumbnail. It's definately harder than cherry.
It might be.....
red gum
soft (silver or red) maple
pignut hickory
Or 6 or 7 other woods without having it in my hands.
Soft maple is still my first guess without getting my hands on it.
Very interesting to know what it is.
Jeff
Looks like walnut on my monitor.
Rich
Rich,
If it is walnut, it is waaaaay tighter grained than any walnut I have seen before.
Rob
My guess is it is butternut also known as white walnut. If it is a little softer than poplar and has a fragrant smell when cutting it. The grain is like walnut but the wood is a light tan.
I suppose it could be butternut, if it is it is got a lot tighter grain than I would expect.
Rob
Alder ?
I don't know? I don't have any experience with alder.
Rob
that doesn't look like alder. My guess is butternut.
Rob,
Looks exactly like the maple I have from a tree I had to cut in my front yard. I'd say sugar maple.
Bob, Tupper lake, NY
Picture 003 looks like Pignut Hickory.
I made a Gun Cabinet out of it and it came out excellent.
If the wood is HARDER than OAK, the sawdust much finer,
and it BENDS very easily in thin strips without snapping, as in, CIRCLES ..............pretty sure its Pignut Hickory.Pignut is quite different than more common Shagbark Hickory which
has a lot more knots and color variation.
Maybe...?
Rob
That makes sense since it came with a sh!t load of maple. But other than the tight grain it doesn't look like any maple I have seen.
Rob
My guess is soft maple - I've gotten a lot of soft maple from Kettle Moraine Hardwoods in Hartford, WI that looks a lot like that. The soft maple I get is also a lot lighter in weight than the hard maple I get, so that is a clue, I guess.
Where do you buy from in Fort Atkinson?
russ
Russ,
I buy most of my wood from Kettle Moraine also. I bought this from a private seller in Appleton who cut the trees to make room for his new home and had it milled. I got it cheap so I couldn't pass it up. Which reminds me, if anyone in the area (south central wisconsin) needs any air dried maple I have an add up in the Madison craig's list for some of this lumber.
To everyone else,
The more I think about it the more I think it is just some of the heartwood from the maple trees he cut down. It makes sense because the guy I got it from isn't the type who would just have lumber lying around, not to mention the fact that it is small pored, like maple and has a little curl to it.
Whatever it is, I really like it. I wonder why they don't sell the heartwood of maple as well as the sap wood?
Rob
I wonder why they don't sell the heartwood of maple as well as the sap wood?
They do. It's called paint grade.
Lee
Looks like nice stuff. But for this it is good to show pictures of end grain as well, plus indicate if the wood has a smell, and of what, and if it is hard or soft, and how heavy when compared to say a Cherry board of same size.
Clearly its morning wood.
I have worked with morning wood quite extensively. This isn't morning wood. :^)
Rob
I will post some end grain pictures. It is pretty damn hard, and heavier than cherry. I haven't worked with it enough to notice a smell one way or the other yet.
Rob
Rob,
That's no mystery wood - it's red gum.
Lee
You sound pretty confident, are you sure?
Rob
I'm fairly certain. I just planed and straight lined about 600 bd ft for a customer the other day. Without having a piece in my hands, I can't be absolutely positive.
Red gum is fairly light weight, and has very fine grain, almost like pearwood. Even has that pinkish blush like pearwood.
I can tell you it's not:
Walnut
Butternut
Alder
And it really doesn't look like any heart maple (soft or hard) that I've run across in 15 years.
Lee
I had a piece in my hands this morning, and it definitely is morning wood.
Hey man,
I'm glad you're having so much fun playing with yourself.
Personally, I like a woman to be involved. But that's just me.
Lee
Pardon a guy from Colorado for asking, but what is "Morning Wood"? Do you know the Latin name?
"Macho Erectus" I think anyway.
Morning is the time I love the best.Rich
Rich,
That stuff is scarce enough around here that I've learned never to waste it.
Ray
Hey,By the time this thread is over that mystery wood will have been every domestic type there is.Rich
Rich
"By the time this thread is over that mystery wood will have been every domestic type there is."
Only if it's open grain or not native to the area.
RichThe Professional Termite
I agree with Lee. looks like Gum to me.EarlFurniture...the Art of a FurnitureMaker
Hi Rob,
It is soft maple. I just made five cabinets for my bathroom out of it. Works great and it has the worm holes and varigated color. You might also get some with beetle "damage". Then its called ambrosia.
Rob
You can eliminate many of the suggested woods with a couple simple criteria. Is it open grain (like oak) or closed grain (like maple)? It looks like closed grain from the pics so that would rule out the elm, walnut, butternut and hickory. Next question is what grows in your area? Is alder or red gum common to your area? If not you could safely remove them as choices since this came from a local mill. The grain and color look very much like red maple but could also easily be black birch, (would have a strong wintergreen smell when cut) yellow birch (faint wintergreen smell) or fire cherry (has a spicey smell when cut). If there is no distinguishing odor then I would lean towards red maple (soft maple) or even the heartwood of sugar maple.
RichThe Professional Termite
It looks like Red Maple heartwood to me. They sell the sapwood at a premium and the dark tan heartwood does not command the same demand or price. Soft maple is not soft, just softer then hard maple.
It's just oddly colored maple. Not that unusual but odd enough to be hard to sell... or exceptionally interesting... depends on your POV.
I'm Guessing Red and yellow birch.
Sure looks like Old Elm as I remember it.. Maybe Pecan?
Soft Maple? I would have never thought that by the color? Or do you take off-color picture like I do?
Edited 11/10/2008 12:24 pm by WillGeorge
looks like Elm, depending on what part of the country your in.
I believe that mapleman got it right. It looks like the heartwood of sweetgum, called red gum in the trade.
If it's heavier than cherry, it isn't alder or soft maple. It looks like hickory, but the pinkish tone would make me think it's pecan.
Looks like birch to me.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Want a definitive answer? Send a sample to the USDA Forest Service Center for Wood Anatomy Research: http://www2.fpl.fs.fed.us/WoodID/idfact.html
Howsabout Black Ash. My brother just cut up a Black Ash and it looks just like that.
Wayne
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