Wood ID anyone?

[Bodrighy]

I was given a pile of old table tops and other bits of wood from old furniture all covered in layers of paint, varnish etc. Most is Spanish mahogany but some though it was stained dark brown came out looking like this when turned. My first impression was piranha pine as the graining is pine like and the colouring is like the piranha pine I used to use at school ** years ago. However this is so hard I am forever resharpening the tools and it comes to a shiny finish off the tool. Does anyone here have any idea if it is in fact piranha pine which I remember as being much softer or perhaps something else. The apparent ridges by the way are the grain, not bad tool control LOL. This is approx 6" tall and 5" diameter at the top. As yet unpolished.

 

[Hudson Carpentry]

Did it have a nasty or noticeable smell.

 

[Richard Findley]

Hi Pete

Could be Pirana Pine. This has a quite distinctive smell so you should know if it was. Would think the smell would still be there even after all those years?

Cheers

Richard

 

[Bodrighy]

The smell was partly what made me think piranha pine, sweet, slightly sickly. It was the fact that it is so hard that confused me. Does PP go harder with age or is my memory of it being softer wrong?

 

[Spindle]

Hi

Could that be beech?

Regards Mick

 

[KimG]

Does PP go that dark? How accurate is the colour in the photo compared to the real thing in daylight? Could you get a close up of the grain, that would help a lot.

 

[woodyturner]

It looks like red cedar end grain

 

[Dodge]

It looks similar to London plane to me

 

[Bodrighy]

Looking up the specs on piranha pine I am pretty certain now that that is what it is. I know it was very common in the 60's for furniture and the look and smell are very nostalgic as I used to turn a fair bit of it in school. I don't remember it being as hard as this but I was just a kid so probably didn't register LOL. Lovely wood though. Got a fair bit of it thanks to a satisfied customer.

Pete