I have a hunch it's elm. Beautiful heartwood, I'm carving a spoon out of it currently and it's tight grained and hard. What do we think?
What wood is this?
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I have a hunch it's elm. Beautiful heartwood, I'm carving a spoon out of it currently and it's tight grained and hard. What do we think?
Could well be wych elm but I remember it having a slightly thicker layer of bark than yours does
I would rule out Ash, the bark doesn't look right.
Hornbeam is a possibility and elm.
The dark wood looks like spalting to me.
Where was the wood from? Was it freshly cut or seasoned? If you have any small branches that would really help. Or any other pieces from the same tree.
Hornbeam is a possibility and elm.
The dark wood looks like spalting to me.
Where was the wood from? Was it freshly cut or seasoned? If you have any small branches that would really help. Or any other pieces from the same tree.
The darker wood is definitely the beginnings of rot and not part of the woods’ natural character.
The bark reminds me of Goat Willow, but you say the wood is very hard so Willow seems unlikely. Hard to say if it’s Elm, I haven’t seen any that look like that, the bark on Elm is corky and winged on the branches.
To be honest, I think it may be Ash. That last pic of the grain is so typical of Ash.
The bark reminds me of Goat Willow, but you say the wood is very hard so Willow seems unlikely. Hard to say if it’s Elm, I haven’t seen any that look like that, the bark on Elm is corky and winged on the branches.
To be honest, I think it may be Ash. That last pic of the grain is so typical of Ash.
My first instinct was some form of willow. Possibly grey or crack. Doesn't much look like ash to me
To be honest I first thought it was hazel except for the extremely tight grain that bit has.
The dark patches look like spalting as it's not centred around the pith but is rather to one side.
The species that I did notice were oak, Ash, horse chestnut and sycamore, however there did seem to be a good variety of other species too. We were well up in the Yorkshire Dales but down at river level, it was a logged up tree and couldn't bring myself to pass up the chance with grain like that. The spoon is looking really nice.
The dark wood is very hard on the knife, the edge soon needed retouching, is it common for spalt to be harder than the normal wood?
Once cut, the wood seems to take on a red/pink tinge, perhaps a clue to the species? It smells kinda unpleasant too.
The dark wood is very hard on the knife, the edge soon needed retouching, is it common for spalt to be harder than the normal wood?
Once cut, the wood seems to take on a red/pink tinge, perhaps a clue to the species? It smells kinda unpleasant too.
If it was elm the inner bark would give it away. Would be tough and elastic. Id go with oak or hornbeam. Both will be incredibly dense and heavy. If it were goat willow I would expect to see more diamonds in the bark and it wouldnt be anywhere near as heavy as oak/hornbeam, still the heaviest willow we have mind.
My mate did suggest oak, and there were plenty of oak around, but the grain doesn't feel/look oak to me, it's too bright, feels more like ash to me, but harder/tighter grained (atleast from my own limited experiences)
The red hue when cut reminds me of apple?
The red hue when cut reminds me of apple?
I think you’re probably right with apple. It had been my first thought then dismissed. The random bits of dark match apple but I changed my mind because of the lack of extra variation.
Google image searches of spalted apple look very similar, and the green colouration of the bark matches it quite well. Hmmmm we could have a winner. Probably not conclusive enough to know for sure annoyingly!!
My initial gut feeling was fruit wood, most likely pear. Here's a wild pear:
Here's a cultivated pear:
I'm still not convinced but the grain inside looks correct and it would be hard.
Here's a cultivated pear:
I'm still not convinced but the grain inside looks correct and it would be hard.
My money's on willow now. Which would tie in with the pink change of colour.
But, that doesn't tie in with the grain being tight?
Heck, what do I know? I like a puzzle though!
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But, that doesn't tie in with the grain being tight?
Heck, what do I know? I like a puzzle though!
Sent from my SM-A715F using Tapatalk
It was located in a cold, sun deprived upland part of the pennines, I dare say it is slow grown whatever wood it is- this could be part of the reason for the tight grain? The pink colour is very apparent, I'll try and get a decent pic of it....
Ash does tinge pink when cut. The smell, if it’s a bit like sick, is the heart rot and not the wood.
