identify wood

[donald girod]

I just used a piece of wood today (it was part of the crate my new freezer came in, i.e., "pallet wood"), and I have no idea what it might have been. It was very nice (curly grain), honey colored, and looked exactly like oak grain, except it was rather less dense than either red or white oak, and the odor when I cut it was neither sour like red oak nor characteristic white oak. It was somewhat "spicy" (I don't know, I guess I should learn to use the wine adjectives), and unlike any wood I know. Any suggestions?

[Jana]

Possibly brown ash. Looks a lot like oak only produces a lot of curl. A lot of large mills will sell it to pallet manufacturers because there isn't a demand for it on the green market. I myself would choose it any day over oak and 8 out of 10 of my customers who come in to by lumber or especially flooring have made the switch. Jana

[Dave Hinz]

How is it for woodworking projects in general? I've got a few thousand of them maturing nicely on my property (2-3" in diameter just now, so it will be a while before I'm calling a mill about 'em). Seems to like my area (south-central Wisconsin), as there are many more there than I have planted.

My parents just did a room with Ash flooring, and you're right, it's stunningly beautiful. More like Hickory than anything else, I thought? Much easier to work with, though.

Dave Hinz

[Jana]

HI Dave, It works, sands, finishes great. I agree, because of the sapwood, that it looks like hickory, too. They do grow fast and I think it's a "sleeper" species. There's less and less good northern red oak so I think in years to come the market will jump at some point. The tri-state area here is the only place it grows. Once you go south it's white and even northern MN it's primarily black ash. Jana