Wood Maggots

[ApprenticeBuilder]

Or those with an experienced eye towards wood.


Little background on this stuff.

I have had this block of wood for better than 19 years now, I'm not sure how long it was cut before I got it.

Over the years I threatened many times to drill it full of holes and make a tool holder out of it, what pushed me towards doing that was the density of this wood, it is very heavy for its size.

I took several pictures of this wood in direct lighting as well as in the shade to try and give the widest variation in its appearence.

It has turned very dark over the years, then once cut it seems to lighten considerably, I also made a measure out of this wood and finished it without any stains, that is the natural color.

Any credible ideas on what kind of wood I have here.

 

[Jim Evans]

Looks like Butternut.

 

[jimikinz]

Teak?

 

[omarick1948]

Looks like dark beech or butternut?

 

[ApprenticeBuilder]

Thanks for the replys so far.

While at a guild meeting on Saturday there were a couple fairly educated individuals there and Teak was mentioned as well.

Doing an internet search and pouring over pictures it does look like some of the pictures of teak that I have seen.

It looks nothing like the pictures of beech or butternut that I have seen.

 

[ohio ramrod]

Since it looks like walnut, but you say it is very dense I suggest it might be Ipe an african wood simular to walnut but about twice as dense.If it was harvested locally it might just be old growth walnut. The true old growth woods are much more dense and harder than "new growth." Also the wood at the base of the stump is denser than wood higher up the tree. :idunno: Butternut , often refered to as "poor mans walnut " is lighter in color than walnut. And now is actually more expensive than walnut! Beech has a different type of grain than your sample shows. :idunno:

 

[jimikinz]

I've built quite a few spearguns over the years and use teak for all of them.
Teak is very oily and you can kind of feel it in the wood. It also has many tiny voids in the wood that are exposed when you cut it, and it has a unique smell. ....and irritating sawdust, so be careful if you get it all over the place.

That might help narrow it down.

 

[Jim Blair]

I've got a piece of walnut that looks the same.

 

[ApprenticeBuilder]

You seem to be very astute with your analysis of this wood, only I have nasal issues and cannot smell the wood.

Its very dense, has an oily feel to the wood especially when freshly cut, has the pores as you describe.

think you might be onto something.

 

[ApprenticeBuilder]

Of the eleven guys sitting around the table at the guild meeting on Saturday walnut was never mentioned, actualy there was no mention of any domestic hardwood.

:idunno:

 

[Jim Blair]

:idunno: Walnut would not be oily.It'll weigh between between 4.5 to 5 lbs a board ft. dry.Locally cut stuff will exhibit that open pore you're calling maggoty depending on how the log was sawn.I've got a couple of pieces of 1 by milled thin for knife scales that would look like that in a picture.Are you close to any areas where there is small boat builders?Teak would be a wood used in that trade for some things.

 

[ladysmithtrading]

Another way to tell some species of teak is to feel the wood and then rub your fingers together, some Teaks have a gritty fell after touching them, due to the areas they grow they can pick up fine particles of silica in the wood,one of the reasons some of them eat up saw blades!, I have had a lot of teak in the past, a friend of mine works in the yacht building biz and brings me all sorts of exotic ends and cutoffs, my first gut feeling when I saw the pics was Teak, JMHO,

 

[Kootenai]

One of the tropical mahoganies

Mark

 

[gmarc]

This appears to be a wood called "Greenheart" (chlorocardium rodiei) a member of the teak family. I have a board of this wood and it is quite heavy, I'm guessing over 70lbs. /cu.ft

Used untreated for pilings in some parts of the world.....VERY rot resistant

Would likely make nice knife handle, esp. when sealed

 

[Nifeman]

Looks like IPE ...Used to work in the flooring dept. at the Home Depot for a couple yrs and it looks like it has the same grain structure and color. Seems as tho I have a little around that I was gonna use for knife scales... Bud

 

[mikemeteor]

One of the tropical mahoganies

Mark

My money is with Kootenai.

Used to do marine fish work on a barrier island off Louisiana, Barataria Bay. Rough beams of exotic wood (used to shore up cargo) would often beach on the island, thrown or lost from cargo ships once they entered the Mississippi River. Picked up a LOT of different types of mahogany, most cheap stuff, some good stuff. Looks similar.

 

[ApprenticeBuilder]

Well,

I do have another piece of Teak that came off of a hot tub that was given to me, I will do some cutting on it and compare the 2 of them with pictures, see what I can see.

 

[troutabout]

It kind of favors the tight grain of persimmon like what is used in choice golf club wood heads. Or possibly sapele, a first cousin to mahogany.

 

[ApprenticeBuilder]

Well,

I have found another outlet for information, there is a hardwood distributor that is in another town 'bout 45 miles away. Will take a trip over there with the pieces of wood and let them take a gander at this stuff and see what they can tell me.

Thanks to all who have posted with information, this has been enlightening for me.

This discussion is in no way over as yet though.