Can you I.D. this wood variety?

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indyartist

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I have someone who is commissioning me to make several pen and pencil sets. He has given me two types of wood, from a late relative who did woodworking, to make the pens from. One is cherry (not shown) and the other was called mahogany. The wood thought to be mahogany is very green in color. I have always associated mahogany with more of a reddish color. I think the board I am cutting blanks from is quite old. Could age make the color difference, it does have a slight reddish vein here and there. Is this wood actually mahogany. I am looking for opinions. I photographed them next to some bubinga and birdseye maple just for additional color comparison.
 

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Tim'sTurnings

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It doesn't look any mahogany that I have. You're right it has a green tint to it. I don't know off hand what it could be. Is it a local tree variety or from somewhere else.
Tim.
 

Rolandranch

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It might be vera wood or lignum vitae. I've never seen mahogany that looked anything like that before.

EDIT: Oops. I see Mr. Vaughan already mentioned these woods.
 
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1080Wayne

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The cut ends appear to be as green as the oxidized outer surface , so woudn`t think lignum or vera . Does it seem to be about the same density as the cherry ? Possibly tuliptree (yellow poplar) although the uniformity of the green shade is unusual - might be a bit less dense than the cherry .
 

Old Croc

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Could he have gotten a piece of Pink trumpet tree, Handroanthus impetiginosus, pink ipê, pink lapacho, is a native Bignoniaceae tree of America, distributed from northern Mexico south to northern Argentina. Thats the only timber that I know that stays green.
rgds,
Crocy.
 

PatrickR

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It looks much like a piece of well quartered old growth Poplar.
Any smell while cutting? Weight compared to the cherry?
 

indyartist

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The cut ends appear to be as green as the oxidized outer surface , so woudn`t think lignum or vera . Does it seem to be about the same density as the cherry ? Possibly tuliptree (yellow poplar) although the uniformity of the green shade is unusual - might be a bit less dense than the cherry .

It is less dense than the cherry. Also, I did not mention this before, the board is weathered on one edge and has two nail holes in the other. It appears it is a board salvaged from either a structure or a piece of furniture left outside. The family comes from Kentucky and I would guess the wood to come from that area. I at least do not suppose it to be a piece of exotic lumber. I have turned to pens from it and the finish is drying today, I will buff and assemble them tomorrow and post a picture. The wood is olive drab turned and oiled as well.
 

leehljp

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I have seen similar color before and had a board that color about 30 - 35 years ago. What I remembered about it was that it came from a few hundred year of being water logged and dug up from a river bed. I had a board from a cottonwood tree that was dug up from a river bed that was blueish in color. (In his retirement years, my dad made custom sized shipping pallets and skids and had access to lots of different southern woods from many saw mills.)

That color also remind me of some poplar, but I haven't seen a whole poplar board that color.
 

Talltim

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You can tell lignum vitae and Vera wood very distinctly by the smell when you work it. It has a mild sweet perfume smell. Very nice while you are turning it.
 

indyartist

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The cut ends appear to be as green as the oxidized outer surface , so woudn`t think lignum or vera . Does it seem to be about the same density as the cherry ? Possibly tuliptree (yellow poplar) although the uniformity of the green shade is unusual - might be a bit less dense than the cherry .

I looked up tulip tree and it is a strong possibility. It mentions on Wikipedia that it as not only common in Kentucky, heart wood as pale green but also that is was used as siding. This piece I was given having the weathered edge might have been clap board at some point.
 

indyartist

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I think the fellow commissioning the work will not jump for joy when he sees relatively plain olive drab pens. He might go back to his late family members wood shop and pick out something else.
 

2 Saw

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I live in Ky and have an old barn {100 plus years old } and have boards similar to that in my barn that are poplar.:cowboy:
 

indyartist

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Re read your initial post . Do a cross cut where you have the most reddish vein . Red/purple in close proximity to green fairly common in tuliptree . Should make a nice pen .

Never tried cross cutting to make a pen blank. Will it turn o.k. either direction? Pretty new to the hobby.
 

leehljp

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Re read your initial post . Do a cross cut where you have the most reddish vein . Red/purple in close proximity to green fairly common in tuliptree . Should make a nice pen .

Never tried cross cutting to make a pen blank. Will it turn o.k. either direction? Pretty new to the hobby.

It does turn a little different than straight cuts. Keep the chisel Sharp and have patience, smaller bites. Another thing: flood the wood with thin CA. Cross cut in unstabilized wood will expand/contract AND cracking - more with humidity changes than wood cut with the grain. Soak thin CA into the pores after turning down and before you get it to the final size. If you are turning with a mandrel, take the blanks off of the mandrel/bushings and soak it. This is to prevent the expansion/contraction with humidity changes 3 months to 6 months down the road. After soaking, clean the ends off and then put them back on the mandrel for turning to final size.

The results are well worth it in cross cut and even 45° cuts. Plain grained wood often looks great when cross cut or at 45° cuts.

Oh, another thing. Place the blanks in the microwave for about 15 to 20 seconds. Does it get hot? If so, then it has too much moisture in it. The moisture in it may cause problems in several ways: 1. cloudy CA in some cases but generally less in the hot summer time than winter; 2. more moisture means more wood movement even on old wood due to expansion/contraction. that is why I suggested the microwave for 15 to 20 seconds. You want it dry if cross cutting/45° and fill those pores with CA. I can't emphasize that enough.
 
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1080Wayne

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Suggest you proceed as Hank outlined , but be sure the CA has fully cured before turning . If the wood is very dry and solid the CA takes some time (maybe several hours to cure) . If it fizzes and heats up the blank as soon as it is applied , it can be turned much quicker , but I`d still wait an hour . My face shield attests to the times I have not waited long enough .
 
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