any wood experts?

[Older The Better]

I went to a local auction and the guy belonged to some sort of exotic wood club. he had some boards labeled. I saw black palm, blood wood, ebony, iron wood, acacia, a box labeled Hawaii, snake wood and so on. the point being while I got this in se Kansas I could be from anywhere. the auctioneers couldn't identify a lot of the wood so they put it into several piles of similar looking lumber and sold it. I bought one pile and so far have found some walnut and catalpa but this board which I thought was going to be a larger piece of walnut appears to be something else. ive hit it with a belt sander for 15 minutes and I still haven't got rid of the saw marks seems unusually hard, I know its probably early in the sanding process to be asking but ill try anyway, anybody recognize this wood? one pic is dry the other I wiped with water.

 

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[Gambrinus]

Jatoba is my guess, make a fresh cut on the end and compare the end grain notes on this link with your piece might be helpful.

https://www.wood-database.com/jatoba/

 

[sawmill man]

I know nothing of exotic woods , but i would love to see your finished project with that wood.

 

[ToddsPoint]

End grain is the way to identify it. Cut the end and sand it to a fine finish. Compare to samples on the net. Gary

 

[Older The Better]

thanks for pointing me in the right direction, ive been sanding for days on various pieces of my table and im a bit burnt out on the project so the id and finished product will have to wait a while until im inspired again.

 

[Duckshot]

It looks like could be live oak?

Live oak is the hardest wood that I ever tried to work. It just kind of throws the blade right back at the carpenter. Try burning a sliver. Live oak smells like rotten socks when it smoulders.

 

[Rookster]

Really like the mill saw marks. I've been lucky enough to find some chestnut on a few barns that we're falling in down here. It make beautiful tables.

 

[A2coins]

nice pice woods can be very pricy

 

[DaveVanP]

If it is native to the area you got it (SE Kansas) it could very well be Osage Orange, AKA "Hedge"/"Bois d' Arc" (Bodark). It is extremely hard and tough, color varies red/orange/yellow. Very springy, the Indians used it to make bows (hence the name "Bois d' Arc" -"wood of the bow"). Grain is usually very "twisty" - it doesn't split straight. Thousands were planted in the past hundred years as hedgerows in KS, OK, MO, NE.... It can be planted simply by sticking live, green sprouts/branches into the ground, which will develop roots and begin to grow. It grows fast, and a thickly-planted row will develop into a dense, intertwined, thorny hedge in just a few years. The wood ages well, and there are thousands of fence posts in the Midwest that have been in the ground over a hundred years.

Being extremely hard, Osage Orange is not commonly milled for use as lumber, but examples I have seen of items made of it are extremely beautiful, particularly musical instruments such as violins, mandolins, and guitars. The most common use of hedge is as fence posts or firewood, though many do no like to use burn it in stoves or fireplaces, because it burns very hot (it will turn a stove red, and crack firebrick), and pops a lot. If you cut hedge for firewood, you will stop often to re-sharpen the chainsaw blades or replace the chain often, and as stated before, it is very hard to split with an ax/wedge.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Looks like quartersawn curly cherry to me.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Makes a nice gunstock as well.