Wood ID challenge

[Steliz]

I'm usually OK at identifying different wood species but I was given this by a neighbour (locale: Hungary) and I assumed it was Beech because it has a similar colour. I decided to use some last week to make a small box and, once cleaned up, I can see it doesn't look like Beech at all. The grain is very swirly and a pita to plane and the wood is very hard. It took me an age just to sand out the bandsaw marks using a ROS.
Is it Beech or something else?

 

[thetyreman]

it looks more like a fruitwood, could be cherry, or apple wood, that's my guess, it's not beech because there's no ray fleck in the end grain.

 

[Trevanion]

I could be totally wrong but I think that looks a bit like Wild Cherry I've worked with before.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

My vote would be pear wood or maybe cherry. Cheers, W2S

 

[ED65]

I'm usually OK at identifying different wood species but I was given this by a neighbour (locale: Hungary) and I assumed it was Beech because it has a similar colour.

Colour alone is no indicator of a wood as a general rule. You can quite easily find examples from a single species that are completely unalike in general colouring, some being fairly textbook but others being much lighter, maybe darker and others still with a tint that's unusual or very rarely seen (either due to natural variation or from storage conditions).

You want to look for grain characteristics, end grain most particularly, as reliable identification markers. With beech specifically it's a rare one in that it has a specific characteristic that transcends the colour of the piece or the wildness of the grain, almost every surface should show the characteristic dark flecks that mark the species. Here's a textbook example which is just as seen in your edging strips, and a more varied sample in this bowl.

 

[MikeG.]

Is that hornbeam (ironwood), perchance?

 

[Steliz]

The consensus seems to be Cherry which fits in with the local area which is mostly family owned small holdings with vineyards and various fruit trees (for alcohol production!). I'll try and get a better picture of the surface as it seems to be a bit washed out by the sunshine.

 

[sunnybob]

If it is cherry, its a very nice piece. The cherry I have is extremely bland regarding shapes in the wood.
Definitely not beech.

 

[Steliz]

Here is a better picture of the planed surface.

Sunnybob, it does look very pretty. It has been sat out in the weather for years and was just grey when I got it but I cut off a piece to use and found this. This is the smaller one of the 4 bits I got.

 

[sunnybob]

That needs to be sliced and used for a keepsake box, with the most rippled piece for the lid.
I dont use p-lanes at all so when I make a box from very hard wood, I just cut slowly on the bandsaw, then accept I have a lot of sanding to do. 60 and 80 on the belt sander, then 120,150,180,240, either on the little triangle power tool or plain old fashioned hand.

Good job I dont have to make money on them :shock: :roll: 8) 8)

 

[woodbloke66]

You want to look for grain characteristics, end grain most particularly, as reliable identification markers

Agreed, that's one way of identifying a timber; expert microscopic analysis of an end grain slice. The other way is equally as difficult and that's to look very carefully at the leaf and twig structure of the tree, or a botanical analysis. Any other method is simply guesswork and (unless it's a very common timber which we're all familiar with) will probably be wrong - Rob