Another "what wood" thread

K

KenH

Well-Known Member
OK, here's a block of wood I got and no idea what type of wood it is. It's not cocobolo, or bacote, there's too much yellowish/orangish in wood. The grinding dust is pretty yellow, more than what you see in photo. The photo is more orangish because I wet it down to show grain better. This wood is NOT stabilized but is as dense as it can be, sinks like a rock in water.

Wood.jpg
 
That's what I've about decided it must be some time of really light colored Desert Iron Wood. A DIW I'd seen before was a good bit darker, but am now thinking it must be DIW.
 
The thought was given to Osage Orange due to color, but does Osage Orange ever sink in water? This stuff sinks like a rock, right to bottom. Sinking is what gave me the idea of DIW. This is that block of wood Kevin Zito gave me at Christmas. He didn't have a clue at the time. I'm using it now and wondered if anybody had clues to ID of wood.
 
Ironwood first guess....Osage second guess but the grain doesn't look right to me for osage. Grain does look right for Ironwood.

I have seen ironwood that light before. Ironwood has a distinct unmistakable smell, but that doesn't help if you've never used it.

Amboyna is a long shot....grain is right but color would be odd if its really yellow as you describe. It also has an unmistakable odor.

It could venture into the exotics like pheasant wood or canary wood.
 
Bodark or persimmon are the densest woods in my area and I think they both will sink. Bodark has very bright, yellowish sawdust for sure. It also ages to really nice brown color too after exposure to sunlight or heat.
 
Can we see a pic off the end grain?

Also you could polish one corner to 800 grit and burnish it....press really hard building up some heat as you sand. Ironwood develops a very unique fingerprint-like surface when burnished.
 
Anthony, are you sure Bodark (Osage Orange) wood sinks in water? From the density I found in wood database Osage was only in the 50 to 60 lb/ft³ range.

Yes John, I'll get an end grain shot - it's pretty thin as I've cut into scales already. Will it work to burnish sides? OR - does it need to be end grain?

Here's another photo that might help - and the more we talk, the more I'm leaning toward DIW due to yellow dust, sinking in water, and looks of grain. The yellow on the very bottom end is the sanding dust and shows the dust color pretty good. This shot the wood is not wet, and you can see the fresh sanded at bottom portion vs the 2 day old sanded at top portion of photo.
Wood-2.jpg
 

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OK, I "burnished" a section of the scale with 600 grit (closest to 800 I had) with 2X72 grinder - that darken a bit and looks just like Desert Iron Wood I've seen before. Maybe a tad lighter than I've normally seen, but it's DIW for sure.

Thanks to all for comments and especially John for his guidance. Nope, smell doesn't help - I've got sinus crud and doubt I could smell cedar right now.
 
Here's a quote from a wood page: Osage Orange contains a water-soluble yellow dye, so putting shavings into water will turn the water yellow. Maybe it doesn't sink, I was thinking it did. Looks like specific gravity is 0.86, so guess not. Almost would sink, but it would have to 1 or higher to sink I guess.
 
Self Made Knives said:
Osage Orange contains a water-soluble yellow dye, so putting shavings into water will turn the water yellow.
Click to expand...
OK, I took some of the grinding dust and put in small white container of water. Mixed up good, dust settled to bottom leaving water clear. I stirred again and water still clear after dust settles to bottom.
 
The last pics you posted definitely look like Ironwood. I'm with you......I'm pretty certain that's what it is.
 
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