Timber identification

[banjo]

Evening all,

I have got the chance of some hardwood from a disused building. I think it could be mahogany but I am not sure, I pulled up a few pieces and quickly sanded one of them, what do you think?


The wood has been down for 40-50 years but I think a quick run through a P/T and it should come up ok.
Anyway, a few questions:-
1. There is quite a bit and given that it is about 100mm x 500mm and 22mm thick. Will it be worth investing in a P/T?
2. Can it be joined to make up larger boards given the size?
3. Basically, will it be worth doing anything with it?

Cheers all
Banjo

 

[OPJ]

That could be a mahogany, I'm not really sure.

At those dimensions though, it's definitely worth doing something with it! I've seen people produce work using smaller diameter timber than this. :wink: There's no reason why these boards can't be edge-jointed; plenty of room there for biscuits or splines, if you wanted to use them.

If you're getting serious about your woodworking and plan to prepare a lot of your own timber (which is usually cheaper than buying PAR) then, yes, a planer thicknesser is an essential purchase.

If it's just for these two boards though, you could probably manage to do it all by hand - with a sharp plane iron, a half-decent bench and a bit of practice.

 

[joesoap]

Banjo
Seeing the endwood and on the grain on the red one and the left edge it could be Douglas fir / Oregon pine , the other two , on the left possibly walnut , t'other perhaps elm . I guess
With that quantity , its certalinly useable. I guess !
Cheers !

 

[banjo]

Cheers Olly,

Unfortunately hand planing is a no-go due to the shear amount - must be at least 100 sq m.

Does anyone know how much mahogany goes for and then I could possibly offset against a new P/T (thats what I'll tell the wife anyway :twisted: )

Cheers
Kev

 

[banjo]

Joe,
They are all the same types of wood, just I sanded the first down to bare wood to see what it was like. Its got a reddish hue to it when varnished and the end grain is very close (slow growing?).
Cheers
Kev

 

[John. B]

If you do have them to run through a PT make sure you run a metal detector over them first.
Absolutely essential. Any metal at all would ruin the blades.
Wonderful find though :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

John. B

 

[Jake]

Having been there and done that, with reusing used flooring, I'd buy a spare pair of planer blades and treat them (or better, the used ones in your machine) as sacrificial blades for taking off the first mm either side.