What wood is this?

[Toddy]

Nice65 said something really pertinent there.
How does it smell, how does it taste ? I can tell that goat willow will chew sweet, especially the inner bark, while apple is as distinctive as cherry. Cherry smells of bitter almonds.

So long as it's not Yew or laburnum, it'll not harm you.

 

[Toddy]

I wrote that last post and then thought I'd better check on that. I'm right enough though,

Wood Allergies and Toxicity | The Wood Database

www.wood-database.com

M

 

[punkrockcaveman]

More pictures as carving progresses please!

Will do! Pics to follow soon!

Nice65 said something really pertinent there.
How does it smell, how does it taste ? I can tell that goat willow will chew sweet, especially the inner bark, while apple is as distinctive as cherry. Cherry smells of bitter almonds.

So long as it's not Yew or laburnum, it'll not harm you.

Please don't think I'm weird when I say this, but it smells like the back end of a rabbit. If you have had the pleasure of gutting one, you'll know what I mean! With that in mind, I apologise in advance, but I'm not chewing that (although I've eaten worse!)

 

[punkrockcaveman]

More pictures as carving progresses please!

This was last nights progress.... it was still very green, and by this morning the dark wood on the base of the bowl had started to crack... so it had some emergency surgery done tonight, and it's really lost some weight around the midriff! Waiting for it to season proper to run the knife over it again and hopefully get a nice finish on it

 

[Toddy]

Will do! Pics to follow soon!


Please don't think I'm weird when I say this, but it smells like the back end of a rabbit. If you have had the pleasure of gutting one, you'll know what I mean! With that in mind, I apologise in advance, but I'm not chewing that (although I've eaten worse!)

Then it's something grown in a bog, and I don't mean willow
Willow tastes either bitter like aspirin or, if it's goat willow, it's sweet.

Apple doesn't stink. It's always a sweet smell to it, even if that smell is sometimes a 'little' like the cherry and smells sort of cyanide-y. Mostly it's sweet.

I use the apple for dyeing, and I cut branches of mine for a friend's gerbil habitat. It doesn't ever smell bad, even when boiled up and retted down.

No idea what your timber is, just that it doesn't seem to fit what I know of those two.

M

 

[Stew]

That grain seems more ash like than apple like to me now.

 

[Toddy]

I thought the light timber looked like ash/sycamore sort of thing too.

I don't mind seeing Ash with that fragile (he said it's splitting) rot though. Ash I've seen is spalted with sort of grey/black fungus. I have a couple of turned pieces here and they're not at all reddish/brown.

Might just be what I know from around here though

Interesting thread

 

[punkrockcaveman]

This is after the surgery. Very thin! I'm hoping that it doesn't crack anymore, but that dark hole makes me think I'm in for disappointment. A knife finish and some tung oil will hopefully bring its full character out! It smells much nicer now weirdly, when I was first axing the billet it smelled horrible. I've carved apple once, and I doesn't remind me of that, but it's not exactly a big sample size.

 

[bobnewboy]

Could it be a young alder? Pinkish-orange on cut faces when fresh…..

 

[Mesquite]

Nicely carved

 

[Macaroon]

Pseudo acacia, or Black Locust, seems to fit the bill..........

 

[spandit]

Could it be a young alder? Pinkish-orange on cut faces when fresh…..

Bark doesn't look right for alder and in my experience, it's very light in weight. The orange tinge is quite vivid.

Black locust is a possibility, but that normally tinges yellow and there are often thorns on the trunk.

I don't think it's elm - I had a couple of tonnes tipped yesterday and the bark looks different.

The rotten rabbit smell could be down to the fact it's rotten down the middle. Fresh cut ash smells amazing - always thought perfume manufacturers should try and bottle it.

 

[punkrockcaveman]

After another exhaustive trail through tree bark guides it looks like some maple/Acer species make quite a good fit

 

[Nice65]

Bark doesn't look right for alder and in my experience, it's very light in weight. The orange tinge is quite vivid.

Black locust is a possibility, but that normally tinges yellow and there are often thorns on the trunk.

I don't think it's elm - I had a couple of tonnes tipped yesterday and the bark looks different.

The rotten rabbit smell could be down to the fact it's rotten down the middle. Fresh cut ash smells amazing - always thought perfume manufacturers should try and bottle it.

It’ll definitely be the rot then. I’ve cut rotten wood and ended up with my chainsaw trousers stinking of a mix of vomit and fresh dog mess.

 

[punkrockcaveman]

It’ll definitely be the rot then. I’ve cut rotten wood and ended up with my chainsaw trousers stinking of a mix of vomit and fresh dog mess.

That'll be the one- I was beginning to think I had gone mad. Cheers!

 

[Nice65]

Looking at that spoon, I’m still going Ash on it.

 

[punkrockcaveman]

Well I waited and waited until the spoon had dried out properly, then ran the knives over it again, doused it in raw tung oil and wiped it off. It had a strange red/yellow tinge so I baked it for around 25 mins at 180C, until I got the colour I was after then immediately wiped more oil on it. Pleased with the results and worth the effort.

 

[Brizzlebush]

Well I waited and waited until the spoon had dried out properly, then ran the knives over it again, doused it in raw tung oil and wiped it off. It had a strange red/yellow tinge so I baked it for around 25 mins at 180C, until I got the colour I was after then immediately wiped more oil on it. Pleased with the results and worth the effort.

View attachment 71870View attachment 71871View attachment 71872View attachment 71873

Definitely worth the effort.
Lovely job. I like the lines you have there, very elegant.

 

[punkrockcaveman]

Thanks Brizzlebrush

I think I've managed to work out that the wood is ring porous. Seems to be clearly defined. Very tight growth rings too, a pink tinge when cut, yet the dry wood seems to be yellow in colour. the dark wood is definitely rot. I'm determined to get the species

 

[punkrockcaveman]

the best 4 quid purchase of the day, I'd say I'm 99% sure it's ash now after reading this. It's the only one that mentions the pink tinge when first cut and its ring porous too.

Thank you everyone for their input!