What Is It?

What Is It? · 10-06-2009, 05:41 PM

Here's some pics of my "suspect" wood that I have no idea what it is. This was cut back in January of February of this year and has been laying on the ground since. Lots of worm activity and other forms of decomposition but still some good solid wood in there.

This is a log after cutting off the bark and semi-squaring it up a bit. The wood itself is very yellow in color and still quite "sappy" even after all that time on the ground.

This is the bark on another log section with a couple of smaller blanks behind it.

Another shot of one of the blanks sitting on top of the big square. I tried sanding it down some to show a little of the grain pattern. Any ID help here would be appreciated. It's not big enough for me to use in any of my working but perhaps some of you turners might like to give it a spin?

wdkits1 · 10-06-2009, 06:30 PM

Hi David
The bark makes me think that it is either Hackberry or Mulberry but because of the yellow color I would say Hackberry.

MrAudio815 · 10-06-2009, 07:44 PM

David,

I would try turning Some...That is if I weren't 4+ hours away.

Now If some of it happens to end up in the Raleigh area, I would love to try a piece or two.

Thanks for sharing,

PS Have any close up pic's of the grain? Try Flower mode, if you have it on your camera, works well for close ups

Dragon · 10-07-2009, 05:47 PM

I'll try to do some sanding this coming weekend and see what turns out. I'm thinking it may be Mulberry based on another post several days ago about "striking gold" in that the wood was so yellow in color. When I first cut this down, it bled copious amounts of sap and the wood was very bright yellow. I think I may have a couple of chunks that I sanded on back in the spring but I'll have to do some digging and see if I can find them.

Dragon · 10-10-2009, 08:33 PM

Okay, found one of the chunks that I had cut off the butt end back during the winter. It's all dried out now and I sanded it down today to show the grain pattern. It's lost a bit of the yellow coloring it had when wet but still very pretty wood. I applied a light coat of lemon oil to help pop the grain a but so maybe someone can get a better idea what wood this is. I can tell you one thing, it's darned hard to work. Almost like maple when dry.

This side is farthest from the heartwood and shows the grain pretty well.

This is the side closest to the heartwood and has some black streaks from where the tree was either diseased or from some other cause. Didn't find any metal anywhere near this black streaking but there had been at some time a barbed wire fence very nearby. Only about 3 feet or so of the butt end shows this blackening. Anybody having a clue as to what kind of wood this is, please chime in.

I've got a few pieces of it still that may be good for small turnings or something if anyone is interested. Let me know and I'll post up some pics of what I have on hand and you can decide for yourself if you want it.

MrAudio815 · 10-11-2009, 04:57 PM

Hey David,

Again I would love to turn some of it, anyone from your area heading towards Raleigh? Or Maybe Greensboro or Chapel Hill?

I like the bottom piece with the black streaks, it's pretty cool. Also like the one above.

Would love to see more pics of what you have on hand.

Sincerely,

Dragon · 10-12-2009, 06:58 PM

Originally Posted by MrAudio815

Hey David,

Again I would love to turn some of it, anyone from your area heading towards Raleigh? Or Maybe Greensboro or Chapel Hill?

I like the bottom piece with the black streaks, it's pretty cool. Also like the one above.

Would love to see more pics of what you have on hand.

Sincerely,

Thanks for reply. If anyone is coming your way, they're more than welcome to drop by and scarf up some for you. I'll try to get some better pics of what I still have here and post them up for you.

Jeff Mills · 10-12-2009, 07:21 PM

OK I can't take it any more... Rock Elm. check here ---> http://hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/elm.htm

Dragon · 10-13-2009, 08:41 PM

Originally Posted by Jeff Mills

OK I can't take it any more... Rock Elm. check here ---> http://hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/elm.htm

WOW !Thanks for that link. It looks pretty much like what I have here so maybe that's it. I'm going to work with some of it a bit and see what it looks like under all that spalting and decay.