Another what wood?

[JimB]

This one was also a victim of the drought but I've planted another since then. It isn't native to Australia or the UK. The piece shown is light and feels something like cedar. Enough clues to form a wild guess I think.

 

[NickWelford]

It looks like yew, although there seems to be a lot of sap wood

 

[JimB]

Not yew Nick. Far lighter and softer if I remember yew correctly.
Also unlike yew it has tasty exotic fruit.
I've since seen the wood described as hard and brittle but in this case it is not, perhaps because it is/was relatively immature.

 

[Woodmonkey]

Redwood?

 

[JimB]

Not redwood. Since I took the photo I have turned a piece down and was surprised to find it harder than I expected. No smell that I could discern.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Mango?

 

[JimB]

Not mango Phil but it has exotic fruit.

 

[KimG]

Bizarre, it looks like a softwood in all respects which would normally mean cones or similar as seed carriers rather than fruit. I looked at a load of exotic fruit tree timbers but so far found nothing that has bark like that. This is a puzzler.

 

[JimB]

It looks like a softwood and in fact in colour is similar to cigar box cedar but it is a hardwood. Not deciduous though the leaves look as if it is.
I doubt if the timber is available commercially as it is usually a large shrub rather than a tree. Fruit's about egg sized and shape.

 

[Racers]

Kiwi fruit?

Pete

 

[Kalimna]

Well, a nutmeg fruit is about that size and fits the tree description...
Kiwis, I think, grow on vines.
What about persimmon?

Adam

 

[JimB]

not nutmeg or persimmon and as you say kiwi fruit is a vine. South American rather than Asian or African

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Feijoa?

 

[JimB]

That's the one Phil. I gather there are many cultivar/varieties so it probably would be difficult to pick even if you were a gourmet.
I once ate so many that I couldn't touch any more for a couple of years. Guava is the other name for the fruit, sometimes pineapple guava. Don't know if I'll use the small bit of wood but it'll be put away somewhere and you never know.

 

[KimG]

I looked at Guava trees yesterday (well, google images anyhow) I discounted it as the bark didn't seem to match, not that they were particularly good images though, perhaps it varies quite a bit too.

Thanks for another interesting "What Wood" though Jim! Good fun.

 

[JimB]

Thanks Kim. When my wife's parents died and the BIL sold the house I went round cutting out odds and ends of the trees/shrubs that died in the drought. I actually checked the guava on the net in case I'd mistaken it but found that some are similar and I know where I cut it from.
I picked up a fair bit of apple but that was still going (It had to come down) and spring with leaves in full flush wasn't the best time. It's cracking nicely in the shed but should provide a fair bit of useable stuff. Have a fair bit of Japanese maple but it's fairly boring stuff.
Back to the guava, the heartwood turned nicely leaving a sheen straight off the skew but the light sapwood was a bit raggedy.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Feijoa?

=D> I surprised myself there! I bought my sister a feijoa "bush" in NZ, that's why I thought of it.

 

[JimB]

Feijoa?

=D> I surprised myself there! I bought my sister a feijoa "bush" in NZ, that's why I thought of it.

An uplifting story Phil. A good deed that led to your status being raised even higher among your fellow turners.

 

[duncanh]

Not yew Nick. Far lighter and softer if I remember yew correctly.
Also unlike yew it has tasty exotic fruit.
I've since seen the wood described as hard and brittle but in this case it is not, perhaps because it is/was relatively immature.

No idea what the wood is, but I thought I'd point out that yew has extremely tasty fruit. Just eat the flesh and not the seed. They look kind of exotic!

 

[JimB]

I'll stick to feijoas Duncan and leave yew to the birds. I agree that the berries do look exotic but had the don't touch hammered into me.