Wood Identification

Jul 11, 2017 14 Replies

Anyone have any thoughts on what type of wood this might be?


  1. formatting link


  1. formatting link

  2. formatting link


  1. formatting link

  2. formatting link


  1. formatting link


Casper wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Looks like sugar maple to me, maybe red maple. How hard is it?

Maple has more visible grain. The wood LOOKS soft from this angle.

Do not know for sure but it looks similar to a sycamore bowl I have.

Perhaps cottonwood/ Quaking aspen? It looks like a "soft hardwood" to me

snipped-for-privacy@snyder.on.ca was heard to mutter:

It is lisght but heavier than my other basswood stuff.

Markem was heard to mutter:

Cottonwood - Possible. I've worked with one piece and it was darker. Quaking Aspen - Maybe? I've not see this so I'm not sure. Hard to find Apsen around here. I tried a couple years back for a project and couldn't find any. Was told HD carries it but they said they were out. Still have yet to find any there when I've looked.

Maple/Sugar - Don't think so. Not hard or heavy enough. Dogwood - Possible. Have not worked with any yet. Basswood - Don't think so. Heavier than what I've used. Sycamore - Possible. Looks a bit lighter in color than what I've seen.

This piece is light but not as light, at least in my comparison, or as soft, as basswood. But I could be wrong. It has more grain, albeit not a huge amount, than my other basswood pieces.

If it were heavier, I'd almost think it was a citrus wood. Dried citrus wood has a yellowish-white coloration. It is a close-grained hardwood. I have a piece of Grapefruit wood from Florida that is very similar but currently has more moisture right now, so it is heavier and a more yellow.

Here's a piece of turned grapefruit wood...

formatting link

Sand real well! This piece warped a tad but not noticible unless you look close at the bottom. It has much less grain than I had hoped, so not sure what I am going to do to or with it. I may gets artsy on it.

Is that aged and maybe varnished / oiled Basswood ? It seems rather clear of grain.

Mart> Casper wrote in

My thoughts exactly It looks like a pretty soft wood - yet not a "softwood" - Basswood, poplar, quaking aspen,mabee even willow, but it doesn't quite look like it.

There's a website that might prove useful:

formatting link

wood id is hard and harder from pics alone

smell is helpful

heft helps

how it works and sands etc

porosity

Yep but no better guesses locally with eyes on it.

If there is a smell, it is extremely faint and I've got a good nose.

Lightweight, which was siad earlier.

Works well for most part. Sands easily. Water raises grain nicely for sanding.

Very tight grained. Almost no noticable grain, knots, etc.

I've got two hunches on this one but I'm waiting on a friend to return who has the eyes, nose and knack for wood identification.

Join the Discussion

Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.

Didn't find your answer?

Ask the community — no account required