Help with wood identification

[David Aumann]

Here's a bit of wood I got from Mathews Timber in Melbourne a few years ago. It was supposed to be the last bit of a bigger plank from which veneers had been taken. It's heavy - I haven't done measurements but it's up around rosewood density. It has no smell when you scrape it. It's got spider webbing all over the 9' x 7.5" x 1" board. It was sold to me as zebrano, but it's not like the zebrano I'm used to seeing! Looks like a mid-brown version of ziricote, or at least the spider webbing does, and it'd be similar in density, I think. Has anyone got any ideas what this may be? Perhaps the timber yard was right; maybe there are a number of stripey timbers generically called zebrano?

[Allen]

You wouldn't mistake the smell of Zircote.Quite distinct. So it's not that.

[David Aumann]

Okay, I got the scales and ruler out and worked out the density in g/cc. It's not as dense as I'd have guessed. Around 0.7 g/cc. It's one of those woods that won't need pore filling - you can't see any pores! You can notice in the pics that there's a bit of faint diagonal fiddleback in the wood. I'm putting up a second picture - a wetted board and a dry board. I'll use it, whatever it is, but I'd like to have a name for it. Thanks, David.

[Lillian]

Looks a lot like some of the less figured black limba I've seen.

[kiwigeo]

Looks a lot like some of the less figured black limba I've seen.

LILLIAN!!!!

[Bob Connor]

Nice to see you back Lillian. We were about to send out a search party.

[rocket]

Been lurking in the shadows hey Lillian?
Rod.

[Lillian]

Good morning Gentlemen. Thanks for the welcome home. Things have been a bit rough here, but I think the teeth marks on my ass are starting to fade and I can get back to enjoying life.

Been lurking in the shadows hey Lillian?
Rod.

Of course Rod.

[kiwigeo]

Good morning Gentlemen. Thanks for the welcome home. Things have been a bit rough here, but I think the teeth marks on my ass are starting to fade and I can get back to enjoying life.

You got alligators?

[Lillian]

Yeah, you could say that.


I'm still going with black limba.

http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/ ... %20web.htm

[woodrat]

I reckon you've got it Lillian! ....beyond reasonable doubt I'd say:)

John

[David Aumann]

Hello Lillian,

I don't know you, but it sounds like you've come from left field to identify my mystery wood! Thank you!!

Cheers, David

PS I'll consider I know you now ...

[lauburu]

Well, that conundrum seems to have been solved. Here's a new one. This a piece of salvaged wood which was originally part of a heavy door frame - maybe 40 years old. The colour is somewhere in the middle of the red photos of the sides and the brown of the end grain shot. No appreciable smell when cutting and sanding, denser and harder than Fijian mahogany. The photos (from bottom to top) show end grain, quarter sawn surface and surface running in the direction of the grain having just come off the saw. Splinters very easily on the edges and pores are moderately open. Any ideas folks?

[Nick]

Was your second timber brown in colour (similar to rosewood) before sawing it? Padauk has a similar colouring when freshly sawn but why it would be used as a door frame has me puzzled & thinking perhaps it's something else, but that's my guess. There are timber guru's here that will probably be able to nail it for you (no pun intended).

[rocket]

I was thinking purple heart, but looking at the end grain it doesn't look dense enough.

[J.F. Custom]

Looks like non-figured Blackwood. Colour, end grain, pores - all Blackwood to me.

But, there are plenty of other possibilities.

Jeremy.

[Nick]

Looks like non-figured Blackwood. Colour, end grain, pores - all Blackwood to me.

But, there are plenty of other possibilities.

Jeremy.

Must be my monitor, the face pictures look quite purple on my puter Jeremy

[J.F. Custom]

Looks like non-figured Blackwood. Colour, end grain, pores - all Blackwood to me.

But, there are plenty of other possibilities.

Jeremy.

Must be my monitor, the face pictures look quite purple on my puter Jeremy

Aye - that it does Nick. I'm discrediting that as digital technologies auto correction gone awry!

I am reading between the pics so to speak - looking at the first picture primarily, then somewhere between all three in colour range. That 'mineral streaky' sort of look in the first pic is common in some Blackwood. Also by the description provided of correct colour, density etc. But some Blackwood certainly has purple/red tinges to it along with brown/reds and golds. I have some that is very similar to the first pic.

Doesn't mean I'm right though

Jeremy.

[lauburu]

Many thanks for your posts. I think blackwood is a very strong possibility. I've never seen blackwood with quite that shade of mahogany red before but many of the other characteristics are a close match with another piece I've got stored away for a special occasion. There certainly is a wealth of brainpower available on tap in this forum. Thanks for channelling some my way.

[curly]

Blackwood looks pretty possible to me also , the undulating , pronounced growth rings on the end grain sample are what made me think so . The very pronounced early and latewood bands speak of a timber from milder climates . It's unusual to get such variation in tissue densities in woods from the tropics ( though ring porous timbers can look like it ) . Burn marks on the end grain , very Blackwood .
Does it smell when shaped/worked ? Blackwood often has a faint but distinctive smell , hard to describe but I'll attempt by calling it sort of a burnt nutty smell . The dark deposits visible in the vessels/pores would generally match too . Blackwood can range wildly in colour , no problem there .
My milling experience doesn't extend to the Dalbergia's, Pterocarps and others being cited so can't say I'm much use if it is exotic .

[Nick]

There certainly is a wealth of brainpower available on tap in this forum.

Not from me anyway! I'm crap at this "what timber is this?" game it's all treewood to me.

[charangohabsburg]

[...] I'm crap at this "what timber is this?" game [...]

Right! It is a game (without a microscope, UV light, and so on...)
Daylight whilst shooting a photo (plus correct camera adjustments) might help though.

BTW, (and thanks for the link, Lillian!)
Here are some more pictures of limba (note the difference between limba Terminalia superba and "black limba"). And here is the "fact sheet" of the hobbithouseinc.com - website (one of the greatest - if not the greatest at all - online resources regarding wood species and literally tons of pictures of way too many timbers!).

[Paul B]

Hey! Is that our Lillian back??? Where you been Lil? Place ain't been the same without you.

Welcome home!

[Lillian]

Thanks Paul. Its good to be home.

I thought I'd take some time off from the forum to concentrate on the alligators chomping on my ass. It just seemed like the right thing to do, beat on them instead of you guys.

[Paul B]

Yeah, I been kinda tardy with my attendance here lately. Life just seems to have this way of biting you on the ass when you least expect it, huh? At least I ain't got no gators. Tho, ex-wives seem to have some damn big teeth too! LOL.;