Yet another "help me identify wood" thread

A.McPherson

A.McPherson

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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Jan 27, 2012
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I know there can be no definitive answers but I'm gonna ask any way... So I found this stuff in the scrap bin at the wood shop at work... Any body know what it is? I'm thinking it's some kind of rose wood... It has some nice chatoyance(sp?) And is sort of purple on the end grain and golden where it has n been finished...





 
Cool, thanks guys! There's a four foot long section of it sitting there too, I may go grab it as well!
 
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FYI, exposure to UV will cause it to change color to a dark brown with a hint of purple. If you apply a UV-inhibiting finish you can prevent/slow this to some extent.

Also, exposure to the wood dust might cause you some minor skin/eye irritation - use protection if you haven't worked with it before.
 
Top ones, as has been said, are purpleheart. Second to bottom might be lignum vitae, hard to tell from a photo but pretty easy to id in person. Bottom? Hmmm....
 
I'm pretty sure they are all the same wood... It looks as though the larger chunks were part of a sign or railing or something that was exposed to allot of weather. The finish is greyed up and flaking on some of parts of it...
 
No they arent. the purple ones are purpleheart, the curly ones might be any number of exotics, from African satinwood to maroke. How heavy are the bottom two pieces
 
Very. The bottom pic is the end grain of the curly one, the grey-ish looking one is covered with the same finish as the curly one, it's just flaking off. It's end grain looks the same as the bottom pic.
 
Ok, so I went and grabbed that other big chunk of wood. Here are some pics. It's 4 feet long and I took a pic of both end grains. You can see on one that the finish is badly worn and chipping. The other end is freshly cut.





 
Greenberg Woods said:
Huh! It is purple heart. I have never seen it age like that
Click to expand...

It's not photo degradation, but a surface coating finish of some sort, probably outdoor spar varnish or the like. Purple heart makes very durable out door furniture and is used for fresh water pilings in South America.
 
My first though on the bottom piece was that it was a porch railing or such made from amaranth ( purpleheart).
 
Cool! I'd have never spotted that bottom one as P-heart.
Second to bottom is pretty typical of UV purpleheart, but since the top ones were fairly fresh, it totally fooled me.
 
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