What is this wood?

Linus Knives

Linus Knives

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Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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Hey, this is probably a simple question for most of you but im not 100% sure on what kind of wood this is. I bought this on eBay with a lot of other materials and I don't know this wood. It's Curly something- I think...
Any help would be appreciated, Linus IMG_4703.jpegIMG_4704.jpeg
 
I was gonna say some kind of maple burl..
Do you know if it's dyed or stained?



Also cost, might steer the potential
 
Have i been summoned?

At first glance, A few options.

I dont think its buckeye or redwood burl, the grain structure isnt right IMO. Those are both softer woods with smaller pore and grain structure, along the edges of the burl you can see the rough pore size.

Chechen burl is a possibility,
Rosewood burl is possible, but IMO any seller with rosewood would mark it as such and charge a premium.
Weru/ Various Indonesian burls. There are a mix of burls coming into the market from Indonesia this could be. The look reminds me of some Weru ive seen

My steps would be, who is it from? Is it from a well known domestic wood dealer?
Was he an overseas supplier?
What other kind of stuff did he send? Was it mostly domestics or exotics?

Does the wood have any odor/ brightly colored sawdust when sanded? Is the wood very hard, or is its hardness closer to something like maple or walnut?
 
I'll have to grab a block from the bins in the shop when I can and take a photo to see how it matches. I have old growth redwood burl that looks pretty much the same as the photo shown.

No one asked - Is it stabilized?
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
I'll have to grab a block from the bins in the shop when I can and take a photo to see how it matches. I have old growth redwood burl that looks pretty much the same as the photo shown.

No one asked - Is it stabilized?
Click to expand...
I don't think so. I am NOT an expert when it comes to woods.
 
Greenberg Woods said:
Have i been summoned?

At first glance, A few options.

I dont think its buckeye or redwood burl, the grain structure isnt right IMO. Those are both softer woods with smaller pore and grain structure, along the edges of the burl you can see the rough pore size.

Chechen burl is a possibility,
Rosewood burl is possible, but IMO any seller with rosewood would mark it as such and charge a premium.
Weru/ Various Indonesian burls. There are a mix of burls coming into the market from Indonesia this could be. The look reminds me of some Weru ive seen

My steps would be, who is it from? Is it from a well known domestic wood dealer?
Was he an overseas supplier?
What other kind of stuff did he send? Was it mostly domestics or exotics?

Does the wood have any odor/ brightly colored sawdust when sanded? Is the wood very hard, or is its hardness closer to something like maple or walnut?
Click to expand...
I bought it off of eBay with a lot of other handles. I honestly don't know anything about what he sent (any help would be appreciated)
I haven't sanded any of it yet, but it feels pretty hard to me.
1739567162492.png
 
My guesses, going top left down based on nothing but first look

Hond Rosewood or cocobolo
Red heart
Sapwood burl out of something, or something else id need more into

Right column
Dyed something? Maybe bog oak, cant tell if thats blue or black
Cocobolo
Purple heart maybe? Those black lines could be scorch from a table saw, but if they are integral could be something else
 
I cut it up today to fit it for a knife. The wood was very hard and im wondering if it was stabilized. Also the saw dust was pretty bright...IMG_4773.jpeg
 
If you really need an answer, I'd default to what Ben Greenberg Woods Greenberg Woods says as this is his business.
I have processed a lot of maple blocks (over 1000) when I had my acreage in WA (I heated and cooked with wood mostly big leaf maple on my property, and had 3 trees with 4'+ root burls that I turned into blocks) and some of them look very similar to what I see in the picture.
One thing to keep in mind is that depending on your camera, photo skills and everyone else's computer screens, colors can look different than what they are in real life.
TLDR - It'll be a guess at best, especially if it's been stabilized because you'll be smelling the resin instead of the wood.
 
Can one tell by looking if an item is made from Hawaiian Koa or are they from another acacia variation?

I have some super nice 1911 grips that were sold as Koa. No real reason to doubt other that it seems lighter than a lot of Koa I see. I like them though; hard to capture in photos but the 3-D chatoyant effect is amazing

Culina Koa 1.JPGCulina Koa 2.JPGCulina Koa 3.JPGCulina Koa 4.JPG
 
sceva said:
Can one tell by looking if an item is made from Hawaiian Koa or are they from another acacia variation?

I have some super nice 1911 grips that were sold as Koa. No real reason to doubt other that it seems lighter than a lot of Koa I see. I like them though; hard to capture in photos but the 3-D chatoyant effect is amazing

View attachment 2982365View attachment 2982366View attachment 2982367View attachment 2982368
Click to expand...

Its really hard to tell apart a lot of acacias. If say probably Koa, the look is right. the bigger reason is simply that's much more available in the western market.

There's all sorts of weird and wacky acacia species, but they rarely make it to the American market where as curly koa is a Domestic American wood. Its a bit of a horses vs zebras IMO
 
Edited,
I took a second look when the photos downloaded better. I agree that it looks a lot like koa.
 
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