Wood ID help please

[Phil Pascoe]

That was my point.

 

[Keith 66]

It looks similar to Iroko but is way too heavy, i had a similar chunk that i never did identify, I made a tiller for a boat out of it. Another contender might be Greenheart, i have a chunk of that & its similar.

 

[Tetsuaiga]

I though the floating suggestion was a bit of a joke.

I presume Iroko doesn't float? I might have to give it a go.

 

[Tetsuaiga]

Well, I went and gave it a go.

When i first laid it on the water it stayed on the top for about a second or two then sank.

Ah so anything with density less than 1000kg/m3 will float and wooddatabase.com says iroko is 660kg/m3.

 

[NazNomad]

... so it's not a witch?


That's reassuring.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I wasn't kidding. :lol:

 

[Ttrees]

Hello again
I could not find the most similar match I have, to the photos you have
I think I could have turned that bundle into strips.
I know I have closes matches, but all my timber is stacked and not so accessible.
A good exercise to try, none the less.

Here is some of, what could be considered to be close(ish)....
I doubt the specifications in the wood database and similar publications are meant to be concrete
information on species identification for instance ....
that length of timber on the left is twice as heavy as some of the other iroko

Edit/ Have you any iroko to compare it to?

Tom

 

[Tetsuaiga]

Thanks Tom, I do agree it has a similar look but something not quite the same. The gap in density from the figure given on the database seems too big too around 400kg/me difference at least.

I do agree about not taking the density numbers too literally, I don't know about exotics but our own native timber species can vary quite a lot in qualities of density/hardness from individual tree to tree within a species.

I think i'm going with verawood (argentine lignum vitae) / perhaps lignum vitae itself though the colour doesnt seem quite right, no greens at all.

 

[Tetsuaiga]

Quite a good page here on verawood

http://hobbithouseinc.com/personal/wood ... rawood.htm

 

[MusicMan]

Thanks Tom, I do agree it has a similar look but something not quite the same. The gap in density from the figure given on the database seems too big too around 400kg/me difference at least.

I do agree about not taking the density numbers too literally, I don't know about exotics but our own native timber species can vary quite a lot in qualities of density/hardness from individual tree to tree within a species.

I think i'm going with verawood (argentine lignum vitae) / perhaps lignum vitae itself though the colour doesnt seem quite right, no greens at all.

Yes, density can vary, but it does so by increasing or decreasing the water content. There isn't any way that wood with an average density of 400 kg/m3 is going to exceed a density of 1000 kg/m3 by adding water, which has a density of 1000 kg/m3 itself! You are right that the gap is much too large.

 

[Ttrees]

What about silica content ?
That short length on the left (not meant to be a match by the way) is way heavier that most, and I suspect it
could be silica judging from the silver streak look of it.
I don't think it would be identifiable by the book.
I thought I read here before that the Iroko that's grown on the Ivory coast is lighter and a lesser quality
than the stuff in Ghana, due to more exposure from the winds and probably more factors than that, resulting
in reaction wood, and all other problems occurring that prohibit the growth of straight timber.

I would like to get a scales for this just for fun,
Has anyone found a suitable one for the job?

My moneys still on it being iroko, (hammer)
Maybe try planing the other face for a better I.d

Tom

 

[Tetsuaiga]

I've given it quite a good sanding only 80 grit though so doesn't show it off as well as it might. I think most of the silica was just some sort of whitish dirt/dust.

I resaw the piece with a m42 bimetal blade it was slightly slow but not any any real challenge.

It has white spirit on in this picture

 

[Beau]

Not a clue now. Doesn't look like Lignum Vitae or Iroko. No help there I am afraid

 

[adidat]

looks like a mahogany to me?

which one well i cant be sure... lots of it used in the 60's

did you mention where it came from?

adidat

 

[adidat]

could it be santos mahogany?? :duno: :duno:

adidat

 

[Tetsuaiga]

^That looks like sapele to me =P, im am quite confused about what is really is..

Perhaps not a bad suggestion though.

 

[MusicMan]

But sapele, mahogany and teaks are ruled out by the density. They float.

Can you take a close-up of the end grain after a sharp planing? The Wood Database has good such pictures, which help a lot.

 

[thetyreman]

could it be macacauba? http://www.wood-database.com/wood-artic ... ver-heard/

 

[Tetsuaiga]

Here is a end grain picture

Will look into your thetyreman.

This verawood picture seems fairly similar

 

[NazNomad]

It's still Iroko.