Yuk! What's that wood?

[lurker]

I have just been breaking up an old ...... I guess 1950ish chest of drawers.
I wanted to use the white (beech coloured ) wood that is used to make the carcass of the drawers themselves

I sawed a thin strip on the TS without the extractor on. It gave off a horrible smell and I can still taste it in my throat.
I seem to remember having some a few years back and had the same effect so I burnt it.
Is seems quite nice wood otherwise.

I know this description is a bit vague but maybe it's well known to other skip divers

 

[woodaxed]

sounds like cedar of lebanon use to be used to keep moths out

 

[lurker]

I assumed that smelt....... Well cedary
This stuff does not smell until you cut it and then it really stinks

 

[woodaxed]

hard to describe the smell have a look at pictures of the wood and see if it looks the same as what youve been cutting

 

[Steve Maskery]

Could it be Piranha Pine? That's pale and stinks. It also has coloured streaks in it when new, but I guess they might go after a lifetime.
I once made the mistake of making a tambour bread bin out of it. My bread tasted vile...

 

[lurker]

Steve that sounds about right.
I will have a Google

It looks a lot like creamy beech but is not so heavy.

Was it a frequently used wood back then?

 

[Steve Maskery]

I think its main value was that it came in wide, clear boards. No knots. Made good window boards, IIRC.
But it definitely stinks. Not seen any for years.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Hemlock? Right sort of colour. Cheap. Stinks.

 

[Steve Maskery]

I think the stinkiest stuff I've ever smelled is Zebrano. Stripey like a zebra but smells like what it leaves behind...
Really.

 

[lurker]

I have googled some images of various suggestions and can't see a match.

Look at this another way, what was commonly used as drawer timber of the cheaper end of furniture say more than 50 years ago?

I am sure I have seen this stuff many times before in drawers of that era but maybe have rarely worked with it.
It all came as quite a surprise because I thought it was all tulip wood or similarand I had a few projects planned to use it up
The grain is very straight and fine

 

[lurker]

Now you mention it, really stinky horse $#it is about what it smells like
.
The wood itself has no noticeable odour it's just when you cut it

 

[Dan j]

Not sure if it is the same thing, but I've removed old fitted wardrobes in the past and had a similar thing.
The timber seemed fine but as soon as you cut it, it stank!!

Have come across that a couple of times.
The wood was just a western redwood type timber, generic off the shelf softwood.

Had wondered if over the years it had absorbed the smell from somewhere.

 

[andy king]

Hi Lurker,
Give Ramin a quick google - often used as drawer stock around the era mentioned and beyond (on the edangered list now though, but used to be the favourite for mouldings, dowels, broom handles etc as well) and doesn't smell the best when it's cut.

Andy

 

[Billy Flitch]

Ramin now there's a blast from the past you only had to look at it and it would split, cant remember it being stinky.
About 50 years ago just as Steve says Piranha pine was used a lot for window boards and stair cases.
You could get wide boards with really straight grain with long ribbons of pink or red in the grain cant remember it as stinky.
Ramin was from around Malay and Piranha pine from Brazil,I was told not so long ago that if you cut into Piranha now, you get a smell like Vomit but that's from some one else not me.

 

[MIGNAL]

Virtually all the woods that we term 'Cedar' have an aromatic type smell, including cedar of lebanon, eastern red (pencil) and even western red. I doubt you would state that any of the cedars 'stink', unless you have a strange sense of smell.
Dig in with your fingernail and take a rough guess at the density. If it's hard it is more likely to be something like ramin.

 

[lurker]

Well having looked here at all suggestions

http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-ide ... ods/ramin/

I think Ramin is the best candidate.
I will see how it planes before carrying on with my project.
It's just a saw cupboard so it's not going in the house or near any food

Thanks your your help chaps

 

[RobinBHM]

Obeche?

Known to smell like cats pee.

 

[andy king]

Another one worth considering is Luaun (often known a Meranti)
When described as Meranti it was normally used as a cheaper alternative to Sapele/Mahogany for doors etc, and can have the same deep red hue, but can also be very pale and yellow.
Its in the paler shades that I often saw it referred to as Luaun. If you ever went into the likes of Focus the DIY stores and looked at their louvre doors for instance, they would often be Luaun and would vary from yellow through to pale red. (Ramin was a favourite for these doors as well if you didn't want pine)
Again, a species that was around a few decades ago and used regularly in that period.

Andy

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Iirc you can get red meranti and yellow meranti.

 

[blackrodd]

Obeche?

Known to smell like cats pee.

+1 More for Obeche, or Idigbo, similarlooking wood and stinks too!
Rodders