Not a mapleI'd go for one of the maples as well, looks similar to the silver leaf maple I've cut.
It does have a scent......What does it smell like? (honestly a great way to identify some types of wood)
It isIt does look a lot like sycamore but, as you say you've not handled it before, I assume it must be more exotic than that
Not any plane or mapleIf it's an absolute ******* to split then you might be right. I was given a load once and my splitting axe just bounced off it. Even challenged a builder to try and he failed too.
That said, it does look more like sycamore to me.
No kind of planeI go for Oriental Plane....patchy, smoothish bark...arrrgh, but its patches don't look pink.
Definitely not sycamore. I spent the day splitting sycamoreSycamore. Burns ok too. You’re lucky to have mixed woods, all we have is Ash.
Definitely not Holly but similar in appearanceCould be a Holly with untypically dark bark?
Everything else points to holly
Is it faintly almond?It does have a scent......
I'm hugely impressed, I didn't think anyone would guess. I certainly didn't. This was one of the trunks of a very large bay tree. Even as a man with a 9' bay tree, I would not have recognised the wood. Bravo!Does it smell like bay?
Oh I get some really weird stuff now and againMore, with jars of pickled onions prizes!
Well yes, Laurus nobilisIs it faintly almond?
I really am guessing now, I thought it a dead spit for Sycamore, but the end grain and rings don’t look right, they look more like Ash. Assuming it’s not Ash, then Laurel?
Pretty!