Can anyone Identify this wood?

[Jenx]

John, If you'd just the photo to go on, and no replies to read.. I'd have been the second vote for Cocobolo.

Ovangkol ... I have a bit here, and its totally different looking...
but your pic looks like the cocobolo i've got... well, very similar, anyway.

Its SOOOO hard to tell from a piccy eh !

It doesn't look the the bubinga I have here either...

Toughie !! not an easy call ! :lol:

 

[Out int shed]

well, if it sinks its definitely not a witch

 

[John. B]

Well I've just made a pen with the stuff and it comes up a treat :lol: I'll post a pic later.
definitely heavier than water, seemingly little or no smell, but then I'm masked up when I'm turning so the smell if any could have dissipated by the time I've dismasked :roll:
I've just found a chunk of wenge and it's nothing like that so that's out.
Real puzzle :? :? :?

John. B

 

[Out int shed]

well, if it sinks its definitely not a witch

 

[MikeG.]

A fascinating collection of answers here,
I tried the floating test. It sank immediately. :shock:
So the specific gravity is more than 1.0 That lets out:
Wenge............. .88
European Yew.. .67
Teak =............. .59
Ovangkol =...... .80
Bubinga =........ .88
Iroko =............ .65

Possible:
Cocabolo........ 1.10
Azobe......... 95 - 1.15
Walnut, average...1.3
Greenheart..........1.03

John. B

John,

what about box?.........I'm feeling more confident now that Philly's suggestion has bitten the dust.

Mike

 

[Jake]

Isn't box creamy-white? That's what I associate it with, anyway (like the inserts on moulding planes, chess boards and pieces, etc).

 

[Richard Findley]

Deffinatly not Box. Box is (as Jake says) creamy/yellowy white(ish).

Not sure you're figures for Walnut are correct. SG 1.3 seems rather high. Now I've been wrong before (just once or twice :wink: ) but I'd have thought nearer .6 or .7 more likley.

May your quest continue!! :lol: :lol:

Richard

 

[John. B]

You are correct Richard my mistake Walnut has a SG of around 0.55
Not box, I have a few chunks of that no resemblance at all :roll:
My quest continues

John. B

 

[Tony Spear]

Well I reckon it's BANNIA!

Swartzia Bannia (French Guiana) S.G. 1.30

"Heartwood is purplish black with lighter and darker streaks. The sapwood is yellow, straight grained with a fine even texture. It is a very hard wood, one of the most dense woods known. Difficult to work & sensitive to heat when finishing. Will take a very smooth finish. Used mainly for small articles and fancy turnery. A very rare collectors timber."

 

[Nev Hallam]

I have 100% figured out that this is definatly without a shadow of doubt solid tree wood!

 

[John. B]

Might be 'Bannia' Tony. Not sure though, whether it's dark enough.
This is a pen made from it

John. B

 

[DaveL]

John,

No idea what the wood is but I like the pen, very nice. 8)

 

[head clansman]

hi

Green heart .hc

 

[Tony Spear]

What strikes me is the S.G. There aren't many woods with an S.G. as high as this. Most "Greenheart" species tend to come out at around 1.0 t0 1.2.

Maybe it's an L.V. variant?

Anyway, enough of that. I'm off to see if I can find an on-line feed of the Rugby!

 

[Grinding One]

I have made a lot of pens and nameplates from Cocabolo and you do not even have to finish them they shine with just paste wax and sandpaper..That pen wood looks just like the ones I made

 

[John. B]

I think G1 is right I just been given a little chunk of Cocabolo it is almost identical :lol: :lol: :lol:

John. B

 

[Tony Spear]

Don't know why I bothered with the Rugby, which was rubbish, this is much more interesting!

Cocobolo is described as "having heartwood varying from bright orange to deep red with attracive variagated stripes of yellow, orange and black, irregular and variable grain", which doesn't sound much like what we are looking at here.

Also we have the matter of the S.G. Cocobolo is around 1.1 and yet this stuff sinks like a stone!

I've used Cocobolo in the past for knife handles and I'm sure that what we are looking at here is definitely not Cocobolo.

I don't claim to be an expert, but various forms of research are part of my background and if I'm wrong about Bannia then I don't think we've yet come up with a suitable alternative.

 

[John. B]

The trouble is Tony,
I researched both Bannia and Cocabolo and found a great number of photographs for each and you would not believe the variety of colours and patterns for each one was displayed.
BTW. I said it sank immediately, not "It sank like a stone".

John. B

 

[stevebuk]

hmmm, looks like sweet guava to me, i have one blank of this, and sure looks similar..