Help on Identifying a Wood Species

[CraigFigures]

Hi All,

My first post on this site and I came as I was informed this was one of the best places for information so I am hoping someone can help me.

Just as the title says I am looking for someone to help identify a piece of wood that I obtained from a shop that had bought over a cabinet makers. He had no idea what it was but it was a nice size so I bought it. I have attached a picture to the post hopefully it uploads OK.

Any help would be great.

Cheers,
Craig.

 

[Racers]

Possibly Iroko

Pete

 

[Beau]

Another for Iroko.

 

[CraigFigures]

Thank you for the fast responses.

Iroko is not a wood I have ever owned before is it easy to work with?

 

[Steliz]

I've recently used it for first time to turn a small box on the lathe and it was easy to work with and the end result was very pretty. It has a lovely golden shine.

 

[MikeG.]

Just to prove that wood ID is impossible using little photos on the internet, I'm going to say elm. Personally, I don't think it is red enough for iroko, and I've used a bit of elm over the years.

 

[Racers]

Dangerous stuff health wise, good dust extraction is a must.

If the sawdust it bright yellow then its Iroko, it darkens down quickly.

Rot resistant good for outdoors, poor man's Teak.

Pete

 

[CraigFigures]

I understand that it is impossible to perfectly ID a wood only using photos however I appreciate the feedback of any kind. It's a great way to learn.

Pete - I will saw off a small section tonight and have a look at the sawdust as you suggested hopefully that will point me in the right direction regarding Iroko

Cheers.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

If it's iroko it'll feel slightly oily when cut.

 

[Beau]

Iroko is quite oily normally. As said it's dust is nasty stuff and has a peppery smell to it.

Phil beat me to it haha

 

[CHJ]

….. I am looking for someone to help identify a piece of wood ...

There is a Link to wood information sites in the Turning Section Help Sticky.

One of the most comprehensive for images is Hobbit House

 

[Ttrees]

Plane or scrape some long grain, the end grain looks like iroko to me...
And get some close up pictures of the pours (long grain pores that is) with something small like a box of ciggys or a phone etc
You will need to have something of that size, no bigger, so you can get it into the photo, that should be a good indicator of the pore lines size.
I have wildly differing colours of iroko, from yellow to brown, no red in all my stock.

I cant give you something to compare the smell to, not even when shooting some end grain, the only time I can smell it is when I enter the workshop.
It just has a heavy smell to me...
For example sapelle has a carrots and parsnips smell (to me)when shooting some end grain

Tis a nice select lump of hardwood to work with
Edit
It would be a shame to crosscut that for no reason, try shooting some with a plane if you must.
Regards workability...
If your having bother with tearout, all you need to do is listen to David W (Weaver) (youtube) and Custard, both folks frequent here
and actually use the cap iron to have effect on the surface, leaving a completly tearout free finish....
Some folks here still think it only limits tearout, thats not true, unless your planing rotten timber.
I have never experienced tearout since learning how to
David W has gone to much lengths to highlight this, and taught most of us who actually utilize the cap iron.
You wont find it on the popular youtubers videos unfortunatly, those folks will tell you to move the frog forward which is silly.

Tom

Loco for Iroko

 

[ED65]

Craig, the upload limits on the site mean the pic of the end grain is too small for us to see certain necessary details; in short, we can't see the pores. But you should be able to in the flesh and it will allow you to tell if it's iroko or elm, or neither.

Iroko is diffuse-porous with pores of equal, large, size evenly distributed throughout while elm is ring-porous, with large pores grouped in bands in the paler earlywood, the pores elsewhere can be so small you won't be able to see them even with a magnifying glass. So in gross appearance iroko and elm can look similar but once you can see the details you shouldn't have any difficulty in distinguishing between the two.

If you're having difficulty making out the details just pare a small section smooth with a freshly sharpened chisel and wet it with spit to enhance contrast. A 1-2cm square is all you need when you're looking this closely.