What wood

[Johnny65]

Hi guys,

Made this bowl out of some logs that were advertised as free firewood on my local Facebook selling page.
Question is what is it.
The bloke I got them from didn't know what type of tree it was, just that it had red leaves.
I thought it was spalted beech but its not, according to a mate of mine whose a lot more experienced than me.
I've looked at google images of spalted beech and there is a lot of variation in colour and grain.
Could it be Copper Beech ?
I've got about a quarter of a ton of this so I'd really like to know what it is.
Help.

Cheers John.

 

[marcros]

Well it is certainly spalted something. Copper beech sounds a reasonable suggestion.

 

[Doug B]

Could be spalted sycamore or spalted birch both spalt readily.

 

[Anthraquinone]

It is probably spalted beech or perhaps one of the others. I suggest you go through it carefully and check the quality. If left too long the spalting (essentially rotting) can go too far and the wood becomes very soft and almost impossible to work with. There are some ways round this though. If the wood is soft be careful how you attach it to the lathe

Also the spalting is actually a fungus attacking the wood. Many suggest wearing a good face mask and having very good extraction when working with this. I am sure you will find guides on the web.

AQ

 

[Tanglefoot20]

Hello there
I’m not sure what wood it is....but it looks interesting...any to spare?
Round about 12” by 5 or 6 “ round?

Steve

 

[Linus]

Do you have a photo of the rough timber with bark. That might help.

 

[Johnny65]

It's the lower one the top one is mulberry

 

[Linus]

Difficult to say from that angle but looks like beech to me.

 

[eribaMotters]

Definetly spalted, but grain looks to broad, to me anyway, for Beech. Could it be Ash?

Colin

 

[Blister]

Maybe Maple they have red leaves

 

[Johnny65]

Maybe Maple they have red leaves

Now that's one I hadn't considered.

 

[gregmcateer]

Can you show us the bark and maybe the side grain when you split or saw that log down the middle?, (assuming that's what you're doing)

 

[Johnny65]

Give me a couple of hours I'll try and get some better photos

 

[Sheptonphil]

I’d say spalted Sycamore.

 

[Johnny65]

Here you go boys

 

[Tanglefoot20]

I am wondering if it’s Robinia..those trees were used to waymark fields...many have been cut down....did the tree come from farmland?

 

[Johnny65]

No a garden.

 

[Tanglefoot20]

I must admit it turns good and looks great...wonder what one of these would look like turned up....

 

[Foggybummer]

It looks an open grain timber similar to oak, perhaps a red oak, Quercus rubra

 

[KimG]

Dunno about red leaves, this is absolutely an Ash log, even the spalting, especially the white rot areas look just like Ash, as does the bark, no Beech or Maple has fissures like that, Beech is smooth nad grey even big trunks, maple is also smooth but often with horizontal marks, Oak is fissured from a pretty early stage and the end grain will show medullary rays. So I think whichever tree he felled that had red leaves, this log did not come from it.