Help identifying wood(more pics of the inside)

Matt Rochester

Matt Rochester

Joined
Nov 28, 2014
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This is a piece I found last weekend and am needing some help identifying it. It is very dense and very hard. I'm assuming it is the base and has broken from the root. I'm not sure what all we have native to my area that is this hard. The grain looks to run in a few different ways on the surface so it should look pretty cool. If it's worthy should I cut the whole thing down the middle with a chainsaw saw and then work it up on a band saw? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
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Not sure if this will help but it smells kinda "sappy" or citrusy when sanded. This is at 50 grit. I found it as is laying around a barn in Six Mile South Carolina. I'm not sure where it originated from but thought the outside grain looked like it would have some figure to it. Does the closeness of the growth rings indicate it would be a rather hard wood?
 
If that is freshly sanded, I don't think it would be hornbeam. You would expect a much lighter grain. I have about an hour before a date, I'll hit the books
 
Assuming it is from the local area, my best bets would be

Strawberry Tree AKA Madrona, Arbutus Menziesii

Possibly still horn beam

Hickory

Dogwood

Without more details, it would be hard to get a more exact ID
 
Ok thanks! Should I cut it and then seal it. Seal this end and let it dry more?
Greenberg Woods said:
Assuming it is from the local area, my best bets would be

Strawberry Tree AKA Madrona, Arbutus Menziesii

Possibly still horn beam

Hickory

Dogwood

Without more details, it would be hard to get a more exact ID
Click to expand...
 
Matt R said:
Ok thanks! Should I cut it and then seal it. Seal this end and let it dry more?
Click to expand...

Hey Matt! A very large part of the joy of knife making for me is using found wood. So I'm quite curious how this mystery of yours turned out if you have any more details? If you ended up cutting it open, are able to share any more photos? Thanks! - Lee (Kansas City, new to this hobby)


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Big Daddeo's said:
Hey Matt! A very large part of the joy of knife making for me is using found wood. So I'm quite curious how this mystery of yours turned out if you have any more details? If you ended up cutting it open, are able to share any more photos? Thanks! - Lee (Kansas City, new to this hobby)


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Click to expand...
Hey Lee! I have not cut it yet. I am not real sure how to go about it but am thinking I'll cut it into large blocks and seal the ends. Ill get some pics of it when I do.
 
I'd go ahead and cut it open before you fall too much in love with it. The sawdust filled "trails" visible on the end of the log are signs of termite or other wood eating critter infestation. It might be old damage, or there might be an active infestation. If you clean the sawdust out of the holes, the remaining voids can be interesting shapes. I usually just leave them open in the turnings I make, but you could fill them with resin.
 
Mahoney said:
I'd go ahead and cut it open before you fall too much in love with it. The sawdust filled "trails" visible on the end of the log are signs of termite or other wood eating critter infestation. It might be old damage, or there might be an active infestation. If you clean the sawdust out of the holes, the remaining voids can be interesting shapes. I usually just leave them open in the turnings I make, but you could fill them with resin.
Click to expand...
Thanks bud. Should I just split it down the middle?
 
Mahoney said:
It might be old damage, or there might be an active infestation.
Click to expand...

The possibility of bug damage actually adds more interest to this mystery for me as I have a redbud tree in my backyard that was damaged and that let in some kind of large, inch-long boring worm that is killing the tree. The wood, from past "curiosity harvesting", is actually pretty striking to me (see photo), so I'm toying with the idea of taking the tree down and harvesting some of the wood before the worms destroy all of it. You can see a bore hole in one of the chips.

Sorry, Matt. This thread is not about me. Looking forward to seeing what you have, bugs or not.

- Lee

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So I split it down the middle and it looks pretty nice so far. It is still pretty wet so should I continue or seal this and let it continue drying?
 
Matt R said:
Anybody have anymore suggestions since seeing the inside?
Click to expand...

Wish I knew what to tell you.

You mention it's wet. The piece looks old so I'm assuming the moisture is from rain or wet ground, not from being green (freshly cut)? Or maybe it's hard to tell the difference?

Either way, I think you have something beautiful there. Congrats.

- Lee


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