Is this African Blackwood?

[TRITON]

It could cut it in to boards, then a wipe over with epoxy or such to fill the cracks would give it more structural strength for thicknessing. Or even use coloured epoxy as we see in many YT vids, to add a layer of aesthetic to it.

 

[Inspector]

You might never find out what it is unless there is a place you can send a sample to have it identified. The Americans can get three wood samples a year identified for free. I'll put the link up in case one of the lucky pups stumbles across the thread. Forest Products Laboratory - USDA Forest Service Private companies exist but it isn't cheap to go that route. Even with the checks it looks like it would make great lathe turned mallets and shop tools.

The first picture looks to have lighter coloured bands across the board making me think it was dunnage from who knows where in the world. Lots of wood that would be prized here was made into construction material and pallets, crates etc because it wasn't one of the ones being cut for export. By buddy got a bunch of Cocobolo much like the subject of this thread that was dunnage in a ship.

Pete

 

[DirkM]

Thanks Pete, I don’t think I’ll get a definitive answer either, but at least I know a bit more. It does look like it was used as dunnage for other wood and that makes good sense as the timber merchant must have just thrown it out.
Thanks,
Dirk

 

[David Lee]

I know what it is with certainty...the faded surface puts you off the scent somewhat but the end grain lets you know. Having worked this timber I can say you will only want to do it a couple of times as its full of silica which blunts the tools like a brick wall. I made a hammer shaft when an apprentice out of it as there was plenty left over from the bridge we were fixing back in the day. I still have some and I eye it i my shed store on occasions......Its Ekki, Lophira alkata also called Azobe its use in bridge construction for pilings and deckings. 100%

 

[Dirk Mulder]

I know what it is with certainty...the faded surface puts you off the scent somewhat but the end grain lets you know. Having worked this timber I can say you will only want to do it a couple of times as its full of silica which blunts the tools like a brick wall. I made a hammer shaft when an apprentice out of it as there was plenty left over from the bridge we were fixing back in the day. I still have some and I eye it i my shed store on occasions......Its Ekki, Lophira alkata also called Azobe its use in bridge construction for pilings and deckings. 100%

Hi David, thanks for your post. It certainly looks exactly like Ekki, and is very hard, difficult to work with and it did blunt my tools.
thanks again for your help,
Dirk

 

[kinverkid]

I love coming here and learning something new. In all my years of woodworking and on many occasions, utilizing the waste lumps of wood from the trailers of wagons used to assist forklifts in loading/unloading cargo. What I didn't know was that the pieces of wood are called Dunnage. School day for me.

 

[akirk]

It is one of those woods which looks different every time you see a photo! I would def. say it is not greenheart - wrong colouring, and yes, it could be Ekki - I have a number of offcuts of ekki in the garden as seating for the firepit - offcuts from timbers imported to go under train tracks - and it does have that look and texture - and is as mentioned above very hard and kills tools! My approach with the greenheart and ekki I have is to consider if they can be used as they are without too much shaping needed! so the green heart will become natural benches at some point when I get around to buying some metal legs and the ekki will remain as random lumps of wood to sit on as it is too hard for me to work

 

[johnnyb]

Bocote but just guessing