I got this amazing piece of wood today - Woodworking Talk

Sawduster · 01-04-2009, 12:31 AM

A monstrous piece of wood that I can't identify. It has four sets of screw holes where some idiot attached legs to it and used it as a coffee table. My guy found it years ago on the curb with someone's trash. I have no idea what it is. It's 42 x 18-3/4 x 2". It weighs 38 pounds. Notice the gentle arc of the annular rings. The tree must have been huge. I think it's somewhere between useless and a treasure. OH Great! I have four pictures I want to post but don't know how.

Duh, I can't even find 'Manage attachments' so here it is via the photobucket route.

GeorgeC · 01-04-2009, 07:25 AM

Start an account at photobucket.com. It is free and easy to do. Upload your photos to this account that you have just established. That is also rather self explanatory.

After the pictures are uploaded you will see 4 lines below each picture. Copy the one with "IMG CODE" label to the left.

It will look like this:

For some reason the link will not post???

Note. I have deliberately put 4 little xxxx in the middle so that the link posts instead of a picture.

You post that link into your forum post and viola you have a picture.

George

**Daren** · 01-04-2009, 11:44 AM

That is a killer piece of wood

. I can't ID it though. The endgrain looks like white oak, but sure not the face grain

. Whatever it was you're right the tree had to be enormous the way the rings are laying almost flat.

Sawduster · 01-04-2009, 11:56 AM

It's very close grained like maple but I've never seen a grain pattern like that. I think I'll sand it a little more and take it to my favorite Woodcraft store. Maybe they can ID it.

frankp · 01-04-2009, 01:08 PM

That is going to be one beautiful piece, whatever you make with it. That's a great color and the figuring is pretty hard to beat too. Is it reddish (like a cherry) or is it just the way my computer shows the colors?

Sawduster · 01-04-2009, 01:13 PM

I sanded it a little last night and the dust was kind of orange.

firehawkmph · 01-04-2009, 02:24 PM

Sawduster,
orange dust, heh? Sounds like it might be radioactive and extremely dangerous to your health and well being. Better ship it to my place in Ohio ASAP where I have a proper disposal facility.

Mike Hawkins

Sawduster · 01-04-2009, 02:47 PM

Good advice! I'll collect as much of the dust as I can and send it to you, Mike.

justin2009 · 01-06-2009, 04:28 PM

That would make a couple of nice telecaster bodies! I bet someone over at the telecaster forum would offer you a good penny or two for that wood.

Sawduster · 01-13-2009, 11:13 PM

I took the wood to the Woodcraft store today and they couldn't ID it but sent me to another place that deals only in wood Called Timber Wood Supply. After several people looked at it and scratched their heads a guy named Alex showed up and they showed it to him. He looked it over very closely and finally got down and practically pressed his nose against it, sniffing real hard. Then he stood up and said, "Doug fir. I have no doubt." His English wasn't real good but as I understood him, he said thought the unusual grain patterns were caused by a growth spurt. He agreed with my idea that it might be best to cut it into four inch boards then resaw them into 3/8" boards, yielding sixteen very unusual boards for jewelry boxes and such.

AZ Termite · 01-14-2009, 12:00 AM

I would have never guested that that was Douglas Fur. That is a good idea to resaw it into thinner strips. You will end up with some nice projects out of it. That piece has some nice figure in it.

**Daren** · 01-14-2009, 08:22 AM

It's always been my gut feeling to leave a big piece whole.

**TexasTimbers** · 01-14-2009, 08:42 AM

If you resaw it, be vewwy vewwy careful. The more you resaw the more you lose to dust. And with resawing there is always a degree of risk.

I would use a brand new blade, and probably limit to resawing into 8 boards vs 16. Of course if you are not a noob then that's a fish of a different stripe.

Nate1778 · 01-14-2009, 10:22 AM

Dude, that is a beautiful piece of wood, I would screw some legs onto the ends and make a table........

Timber Dust · 01-15-2009, 05:28 AM

I agree with the Doug fir assessment, but it looks like it was possibly a slice out of a big burl. Which will make it quite denser than a normal board...

Sawduster · 01-15-2009, 09:53 AM

Can't be a burl. It has annular rings.