Help! I Raided woodcrafts seconds barrel.

[RockandCole]

I would estimate my woodworking abilities to be intermediate as I basically grew up in my dad and grandpas a woodshop, but I am definitely a beginner to turning and with that comes new challenges, like identifying exotic species of wood... I Raided woodcrafts seconds barrel yesterday, which I've done in the past, but this time I decided to not only get wood I could identify on the spot, so, anyone want to help identify some wood? The pictures go in this order I believe...

1. Rosewood
2. Not sure, need help
3. Olive wood
4. Mahogany
5. Blackwood
6. Red heart

If I'm wrong on any, let me know, and if anyone can shed insight on 2, please let me know. A lot of these have sapwood too, which is pretty cool.

 

[jcm71]

One on the left looks like olive. The center one looks like mesquite. I'll defer to Edgar on the rest.

 

[RBcarving]

Your end grains are going to be more help for identification. Check out The Wood Database if you need really good pics & details to help identify. Your "blackwood" could easily be one of the many rosewoods as well. Good Luck !!

 

[Silverado]

1 and 2 Olivewood
3 Cherry
4 Honduran Rosewood
5 Blackwood
6 and 7 Tulipwood

 

[Edgar]

I'm a little confused as to which blanks are the 6 you are asking about. I see more than 6 species of wood in these 6 photos.

It's always difficult to readily identify small pieces of wood like pen blanks, but here's a suggestion that may help. Photograph all 4 sides of each individual blank as well as a closeup of the end grain from one or both ends. Try to get the sharpest possible photos that you can. Then review the photos for the best color matching to the actual blank & adjust the color balance if necessary.

If possible, combine all the individual photos of a blank into a single image so they can easily be viewed simultaneously. If you can do that, then you can include multiple images in a single post. It will help to give each image a descriptive name like Blank No 1, etc.

If it's not convenient to combine photos like that, then use a separate post for each blank & attach all photos for that blank in that post. Also if it's not possible to get good color matching, at least include some comments about how well the photos actually represent the appearance of the blanks.

I realize this can be a lot of bother, but I think it would help us give you some better guesses. Nice looking blanks though - congratulations on the find.

 

[RockandCole]

Rosewood?

 

[RockandCole]

Redheart...

 

[RockandCole]

Mahogany? African mahogany?

 

[RockandCole]

Olive wood. (Are those curls?)

 

[RockandCole]

Need the most assistance...

 

[jttheclockman]

The problem is there are so many spiecies within the different catgories. there is no Hondorous rosewood there. The first group you call blackwood look like wenge to me. Your redheart looks like pink ivory to me. Your 1234 could be any type of rosewood. Too many for me to look through them all.

Use the link for the wood data base site and play around with it and check them out. That will keep you busy for awhile. So difficult with such a small sample.

 

[BKelley]

Cole,
I think perhaps your wood might be Whatchucallit, a rare species some times seen in grab boxes or the 99 cent barrel. It is also been known to start out as other species, but when left unmarked or labeled for long periods transforms into Whatchucallit. Identification can be difficult as it will often resemble other woods.

Ben

 

[Monty]

It's all fib wood.....found in barrel.:biggrin:
I have a lot of fig wood (found in garage) and fog wood (found on ground) in my shop. It always gets a grin when I tell a customer it's one of those two.

 

[Edgar]

I agree with JT about the pink ivory & #16 looks like olive wood. Just not enough views & sharp focus on the rest to give a good guess.

Be careful with the possibly pink ivory - that stuff is beautiful but very brittle. Give the blanks a LIGHT tap with a piece of metal - pink ivory usually will have a little ring to it. In any case, be very careful when drilling it - go slow, use a sharp bit, don't let it build up heat and don't drill all the way through. Also, don't use a metal pen mill to square the ends of the blanks - use a sanding disk or a sanding mill. When turning, use sharp tools & take light cuts. It's also a good idea to sand down the corners a bit on this wood before hitting it with tools then turn at the highest speed you are comfortable with.

 

[jttheclockman]

I agree with JT about the pink ivory & #16 looks like olive wood. Just not enough views & sharp focus on the rest to give a good guess.

Be careful with the possibly pink ivory - that stuff is beautiful but very brittle. Give the blanks a LIGHT tap with a piece of metal - pink ivory usually will have a little ring to it. In any case, be very careful when drilling it - go slow, use a sharp bit, don't let it build up heat and don't drill all the way through. Also, don't use a metal pen mill to square the ends of the blanks - use a sanding disk or a sanding mill. When turning, use sharp tools & take light cuts. It's also a good idea to sand down the corners a bit on this wood before hitting it with tools then turn at the highest speed you are comfortable with.

This reminds I have a few pens that I still owe some friends and one is a pink ivory pen. He has been waiting patiently and I need to get to it. Another pen is a geared pen. I made mention of these 2 pens here some time ago but with heath problems and all I never did get them done. This was one of those kick in the butt reminders. Now I have to find that pink ivory Hope it still is pink