Identification help

[Matt Furjanic]

Just completed levelling and sanding this crotch mini-slab. At first I thought it was birch, but now leaning to poplar. Opinions?

 

[Bill Clemmons]

Based on the first pic, my guess would be Hickory. However, the bark in the second pic doesn't look like Hickory. I've got some Hickory in the shop that looks a lot like the first pic.

 

[Mike Davis]

I’m sorry, I have learned to go more on feel, smell, weight, end grain, and not depend on photos for id, have been fooled by photos too many times.

 

[AllanD]

The bark does look like hickory but you should be able to see the much more open grain of hickory from birch or poplar. I don't see any of the greenish tint or different look of heartwood of poplar though. You might need to send a piece to the Forestry Lab

 

[Jim M.]

It's kind of funny, the first picture makes me think poplar, especially the dark grain color and pattern in the crotch, but the second looks more like pignut hickory because of the wood color and bark.

 

[danmart77]

Looking at the bark rules out poplar. Still uncertain about the wood at this point??

 

[Jeff]

Looks like a type of hickory from the bark in pic 2 and that dark brown patch is similar to hickory heartwood but it's pretty small.

Pignut Hickory (Carya glabra)

What does the slab weigh? It should feel pretty heavy if it's hickory while birch and poplar are lightweights in comparison.

 

[RobS.]

Looks like pecan to me. I have some in my barn and the bark and wood in the pictures look an awful lot like what I have.

 

[Matt Furjanic]

Thanks for all your inputs. Its not real heavy, and not super hard, so I think its probably not hickory. Not as hard as cherry and harder than poplar. Hardness seems to be on a par with soft maple or walnut. Had not thought about pecan - that is a possibility.

 

[Jeff]

Thanks for all your inputs. Its not real heavy, and not super hard, so I think its probably not hickory. Not as hard as cherry and harder than poplar. Hardness seems to be on a par with soft maple or walnut. Had not thought about pecan - that is a possibility.

Pecan (Carya illinoinensis) is a very close relative to the hickory family (Carya sp.). It has about the same hardness and weight/cubic foot as hickory. It's definitely not black walnut but soft maple may be a good choice.

 

[Oka]

Looks like hickory maybe bitternut or sand hickory ?........... there are at least a dozen varieties of Hickory .......... I'm guessing Hickory