REQ: Wood/Furniture Identification

Looks a bit like quartersawn sycamore for the secondary (draw bottom) wood.

Agreed, not Mahogany.

snipped-for-privacy@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) was heard to mutter:

Could be for the drawer bottoms, sides, etc,.

Drawer front is much darker as is entire outside. I could not get a photo of the back when I took these but the back paint is quite peeled and very dark wood. I don't think oak. Grain looks wrong.

Woodard was known for mahogany furniture but also other Michigan woods, including pine. This is too heavy and dense for pine.

Going to see if I can get more paint off with a heat gun. Also going to try and get a photo of the back and bottom.

Usually guessing wood species except the most obvious of them is wildly inaccurate.

However, I have turned a lot of sycamore as there are from time to time large trees down here. It looked just like that! It is very stable once dried, but a little soft. Perfect for a secondary wood.

I would bet that is sycamore.

Robert

Drawer bottoms and sides, yes. What about fronts?

Been researching Woodard but can't find much. They were a huge furniture maker, and later the world's largest casket maker, starting in the 1860's. Known for mahogany and local Michigan woods like pine and others. One would think if they were that large one could find more information. Trying to determine if it's worth restoring.

Fronts appear to be a linen paint wood.

That will change if you remove the paint.

Furniture manufacturers use many types of woods for the same pieces, depending on what is ordered. The type of wood should not be a determining factor as to it's worth of being restored.

I can't open the individual pics, for some reason, to look closer at the drawers, but I can open the group. The style is French Provincial.

Sometimes you can narrow down a date by the pulls design, feet design and the interior drawer framing/runners, if there are no definitive markings on the back, inside the carcass or somewhere on a drawer. Or a combination of features.

Sonny

Email them some pics with questions. Click onto their historic timeline.

Sonny

Check that. I used the slideshow option, to see them individually.

The Woodard tag may help determine age. Sometimes, those tag designs change, as the company progresses. Might inquire about that particular tag design.

The dresser looks in good constructive shape. Maybe Woodard can give you some advice for refinishing, along with wood ID, etc.

Sonny

Casper wrote in news:57p3hc171qkeoorefv6meocpegsi4ob4rt@

Very definitely quartersawn sycamore -- I've made enough furniture with QS sycamore to recognize it at a glance.

Way ahead of you. Went there and did that before I posted here. No response yet.

Woodard's response to my email querry...

"Unfortunately we do not have any records of the furniture Woodard made pre-1930s. Based on the metal plaque inside the furniture, what you have is from the Woodard company, but it is unlikely it would have been painted originally. Someone who owned it at some point painted it or had it painted. And because we don?t have records on the wooden furniture, I cannot confirm for you what wood was used. To get more information on the furniture, you might contact a local appraiser or antique dealer."

Ergo, yes it's Woodard and no, we know nothing about it.