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Wood I. D.

I recently got a log that no one here can identify. The wood is bright yellow when fresh cut. The tree looks kind of like a willow or elm. As the wood ages, it turns a very nice amber color. The grain looks a lot like black locust, but the wood isn't nearly dense enough. It kind of looks like osage, but it isn't that either (I have turned a fair amount of both). It also has a sweet scent similar to catalpa. One guy at a show I just did said that it was China Berry. He was a drum maker, and tested the resonance by tapping on it, and said that he had used it before. I looked up China Berry on the net, and it didn't say much about the wood. Any help?

Also, is there a wood I.D.book that shows the tree, bark, leaves, and the wood?

robo hippy

Reply to
robo hippy
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I'm not familiar with a book that does all 4, but you could get 2 books

- OK, you really need 3 - that cover what you're looking for.

  • Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees, Eastern region. ish
  • Audubon Society FG to NA Trees, Western region. ish

You really need both since there is so much cross-planting going on that what's typically an eastern native, for example, is often found in the west as a transplant.

  • The Wood Book, Klaus Ulrich Leistikow. ish

This is a beautifully reprinted book from around 1900, IIRC, that's about 2.5" thick. Each two-page spread has a detailed tree description on the left with 3 pics of the wood on the right. The wood shots show the typical radial, tangential and end grain of the tree.

and

With these three you'll be very likely able to ID just about any tree in North America - or at least narrow it down to maybe 2.

Reply to
Owen Lowe

Probably China Bery - did it have a long seed pod?

Reply to
Ray Sandusky

Hi Robo

If it grew over here than I would say Mulberry, it is just as you say bright yellow, turns darker yellow with a reddish tint , it is not as hard as Osage or black locust, I don't know china berry it is not cold hardy enough to grow up here, but I think the wood is hard and whitish in color, my audubon tree book shows the bark and leaf and also the flowers, google "china berry tree" and you get some good sites with info.

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

robo hippy wrote:

Reply to
Leo Van Der Loo

Well, I do know that mulberry and osage are related, so if it was harder, then I would think it could be mulberry. I can barely remember mulberry trees from when I lived in Missery (Missouri)and the bark didn't seem right. I need to go back to the tree since it may have leaves on it now, and that may help. The smell of the wood was so distinct, that I thought it would be a telling clue. robo hippy

Reply to
robo hippy

Leaves would help _a_lot_, particularly if it's mulberry - the leaves are quite distinctive. Perhaps you could post pictures at abpw?

-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt. And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

Reply to
Doug Miller

But sumac isn't a tree at all, and doesn't look one bit like a willow or elm.

-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt. And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

Reply to
Doug Miller

I vote for sumac, which is bright yellow, not all that hard and has a sweet scent.

-- Chuck *#:^) chaz3913(AT)yahoo(DOT)com Anti-spam sig: please remove "NO SPAM" from e-mail address to reply. <

September 11, 2001 - Never Forget

Reply to
Chuck

I happened to be in a local hardwood shop a few weeks ago when he received a small amount of Chinaberry. Very Yellow - almost looked stained. He said it was a fairly good wood to machine but a bit brittle and splintery - somewhat like Elm.

Kinda pretty with a pronounced grain pattern , but like I said amost an artificial looking color.

Reply to
RonB

I was referring to the entire plant, not a segment of it. Sumac isn't a tree, and its growth habit doesn't much more than remotely resemble one, certainly not enough that it could be confused with willow or elm. A short segment of a sumac may well resemble a short segment of a willow, but when you compare the entire plant, there's not much similarity at all.

-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt. And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

Reply to
Doug Miller

At our last club meeting I held in my hand a piece of sumac "bush" that was at least 8 or 9" in diameter that had bark as thick and stringy as willow. Now you can quibble about "tree" or "bush" or "shrub" if you want, but this was sumac and it was cut from a log.

-- Chuck *#:^) chaz3913(AT)yahoo(DOT)com Anti-spam sig: please remove "NO SPAM" from e-mail address to reply. <

September 11, 2001 - Never Forget

Reply to
Chuck

In article down.

I'd heard that somewhere before; don't know if it's true or not, but I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who does know.

-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt. And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

Reply to
Doug Miller

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