What wood again

[martin.pearson]

Can someone tell me what wood this might be, it's part of an old snooker table I came across, had a dark coloured stain on it when I got it.

 

[TRITON]

I'd say it's maple.

 

[Ollie78]

Maple or Sycamore.

Ollie

 

[TheTiddles]

Agreed on maple or sycamore, also is it solid? If ply it could be birch

 

[Peter Sefton]

As above comments.

 

[Cabinetman]

Looks to be a little dark and too opened grained for either of those two, recognise it but can’t place it, at first I thought American Ash but probably not. Ian

 

[TRITON]

Looks to be a little dark and too opened grained for either of those two, recognise it but can’t place it, at first I thought American Ash but probably not. Ian

It has that kind of pinky nature you see in maple Ian, dont you think ?. I see where you're coming from colourwise with the ash, but the lines of the grain figuring are too light and ash is always heavily defined.

 

[Peter Sefton]

Also it had a dark coloured stain on it, this may change it's appearance, very difficult to remove all traces, almost as difficult a naming a timber from an image

 

[martin.pearson]

I will see if I can sort out some better pictures, this was an old snooker table, the guy who took the slate wasn't interested in the actual wood which is how I ended up with it. He said that a lot of tables were made from Alder (think that's what he said) & then stained to look like Mahogany which they use to use for high end tables. I don't know how true any of that is but he had been repairing & maintaining snooker tables for a lot of years apparently.
It's solid wood not any sort of ply, will try & clean up an end piece so I can take an end grain photo. Not being a woodworker I have no experience identifying different woods, when I buy wood from the sawmill I make sure I keep the name written on any bits I have lol

 

[Peter Sefton]

@martin.pearson I have never used Alder but you could well be right, just looked it up online but again the images vary so much colour wise it's difficult to confirm.

Cheers

Peter

 

[martin.pearson]

@martin.pearson I have never used Alder but you could well be right, just looked it up online but again the images vary so much colour wise it's difficult to confirm.

Cheers

Peter

Haha it wouldn't be me that was right, it would be some random guy I met who told me but he didn't say that Alder was used exclusively so any of the suggested woods could be right, I don't know where the table was made but if I did then that might give some clues. Quite new to this & as I said previously I keep the name written on the wood I buy from the sawmill so I know what it is, Never seen Alder on any of my visits so maybe doesn't grow much in Scotland.

 

[peter-harrison]

Yours could be alder although it looks quite pale compared to what I've used, which is very similar to cherry in colour.

 

[martin.pearson]

Yours could be alder although it looks quite pale compared to what I've used, which is very similar to cherry in colour.

How do you tell? I realise that I don't have a lot of experience but it seems almost impossible, most of the wood that I buy comes from a local sawmill who only harvest in Scotland & the majority of that (I believe) reasonably locally, I see so much difference in wood that is the same spieces that the only way for me to keep track is to make sure I keep the name written on it at all times lol. I understand that there may be regional differences which can have an effect but most of this is grown under the same or very similar climatic conditions.

 

[TheTiddles]

Some wood has a wide range of colours, most have very similar structures, so being able to see the grain is important but it’s not foolproof… does it matter what it is, all the time? Often not, I’ve got some very light American white oak that’s hard to tell apart from some slightly dark
ash

 

[martin.pearson]

Some wood has a wide range of colours, most have very similar structures, so being able to see the grain is important but it’s not foolproof… does it matter what it is, all the time? Often not, I’ve got some very light American white oak that’s hard to tell apart from some slightly dark
ash

It matters to me but maybe that is something else I am going to have to come to terms with lol, I spent 20 years in the RN working as a Mechanical engineer, never really did anything with wood until a few years ago, it took me a long time to come to terms with the fact that no matter what I did I was never going to be able to machine wood to the same tollerances as I could with metals & if I did manage it by some fluke it was unlikely to stay like it lol

 

[TRITON]

" Alderwood is one of the softest woods in the hardwood family, just above pine and poplar. It has a bending strength (in PSI) of 9,800, making it pliable but relatively soft. "

So from that it should be quite light. Having surfaced and thicknessed many maple boards, you know when you have a 2"x8"x 9' board,, its a heavy chunk of timber to manhandle about.

From me book- Handbook of hardwoods(2nd edition Department of the environment)
Alder - Weight 31lb/cubic foot.
Used for brush and broom backs, toys and general turnery. No info about anything larger than that.
Compared with maple - 48lb/cubic foot
Used in ice rink flooring,dance hall flooring, furniture and paneling, sporting goods,textile rollers etc etc, anywhere a hard-wearing strong timber is needed.

 

[martin.pearson]

OK thanks a lot for the help, I'm going with Alder based on the last comment, working on the weight info at the size it is it should be around 19lb of Alder & 29lb if maple, my bathroom scales are probably not the most accurate but just weighed it on them & it comes in at about 18lb so not anywhere near heavy enough for maple.

 

[pgrbff]

OK thanks a lot for the help, I'm going with Alder based on the last comment, working on the weight info at the size it is it should be around 19lb of Alder & 29lb if maple, my bathroom scales are probably not the most accurate but just weighed it on them & it comes in at about 18lb so not anywhere near heavy enough for maple.

I'm not sure you can rely on density. I find I can have huge variations in density when handling the same species.

 

[martin.pearson]

I'm not sure you can rely on density. I find I can have huge variations in density when handling the same species.

Something I didn't think to ask when Triton posted was if those figures given were for green or dried wood as moisture content will surely make a difference to actual weight. Are the differences you find with wood at the same sort of moisture content?

I have what the building trade sell as mahogany, unit next to mine at one time was a Window Company & they use to have a skip outside that I would raid, the new stuff that they would throw in was very light so not very dense at all but some of the old stuff they removed from houses was really heavy even though these were both suppose to be mahogany. One of the fitters said to me that the stuff they were ripping out was far better quality than the stuff they were replacing it with.

 

[pgrbff]

Something I didn't think to ask when Triton posted was if those figures given were for green or dried wood as moisture content will surely make a difference to actual weight. Are the differences you find with wood at the same sort of moisture content?

I have what the building trade sell as mahogany, unit next to mine at one time was a Window Company & they use to have a skip outside that I would raid, the new stuff that they would throw in was very light so not very dense at all but some of the old stuff they removed from houses was really heavy even though these were both suppose to be mahogany. One of the fitters said to me that the stuff they were ripping out was far better quality than the stuff they were replacing it with.

Yes, when dry. I use mostly Douglas fir, french sweet chestnut, eastern European oak and poplar. I sometimes find myself picking the heavier denser pieces where more strength is required. I've never calculated the difference but I would have thought up to 30% or 40% difference.