Mystery blue-grey wood

[Ted Moens]

Greetings:

I recently bought a "box 'o veneer" at Lee Valley. I like to inlay small strips and curves into many of the things I make and this box has a suprising selection of reasonably large sheets up to 17" by 17") of veneer. (It advertises 50 sq feet, but my rough calculation shows that there is more than 150 square feet and some of the pieces are just breathtaking.)

Anyway, there are a few pieces of bluish grey wood with a grain quite similar to maple. The colour is so distinct that I suppose I should know what it is, but I don't. Can you help me out?

Cheers,

Ted

[Fred]

My guess is that it IS maple. Spalted maple is stained by a fungus that gets into the wood before it dries. It is usually blue, green or Gray, and frequently quite attractive. Fred

[Duane Bozarth]

Be my guess, too...

[Ted Moens]

Hi Fred:

I don't think it is. This colour is uniform throughout. I think that in spalted maple, the fungus tends to travel in the grain giving shots of discolouration. But I'm certainly no expert on it.

Cheers,

Ted

[Gary A in KC]

Harewood maybe?

Gary in KC

[bridgerfafc]

can you post a picture to alt.binaries.pictures.woodworking?

[fredfighter]

Yes, in addition to the general discoloration there usually are also jet-black lines extending along the grain boudaries, often marking the perimeter of the dicolored areas.

[Ted Moens]

Posted. Thanks.

Ted

[Battleax]

Maple

[Ted Moens]

OK thanks. Never seen it this colour before, but one lives and learns.

Cheers,

Ted

[Battleax]

At first I thought it was a black & white photo. Maybe it's been dyed for some reason.