Mystery wood / mystery figure

[Sylvanite]

These boards came out of a log found in the woods. I don't recognize the wood and I've never seen figure like it before. It doesn't have a 3-D look, so I wouldn't call it pomelle, or blistered, or quilted. It doesn't match what I've seen called beeswing. It looks more like a honeycomb (almost cellular). The figure appears in both the heartwood and the sapwood, although it is more pronounced in the sapwood. What would you call this type of figure? Any opinons? If anyone can identify the wood, I'd appreciate that too.

The figure shows up in the endgrain as well, so I expect that it will appear all the way around a pen. I'm anxious to turn a piece and find out.

Regards,
Eric

 

[jimm1]

Send it to me for a closer look. I'll probably have to turn it to get the exact name.

 

[jthompson1995]

It looks like a distinct spalting. I have found similar spalting in oak but that doesn't look like oak. I would have to say maple if I made a guess but it's hard to tell.

 

[barrysj]

Almost looks like a tightly spalted nepal elder (hawaiian).

-Dude

 

[barrysj]

ok so I'm an idiot, probably not hawaiian elder if found in the woods of North Carolina.....

 

[Sylvanite]

It looks like a distinct spalting.

Thanks.

I thought that it might be spalting (from the pattern), especially given that the log sat in the woods for years, but I've never seen spalt that discinct and pervasive - or that reddish brown.

Regards,
Eric

 

[Russianwolf]

Spaulted Sycamore?????

 

[phillywood]

I am telling you,it's very unusual. Beatifull at that. I try to find the site for you and email you. Not too long ago I was palying on the computer and googling for wood and there is site that all the wood spicies on it and you could look it up then it has email address that you could send a pic. or a sample that they will tryto figure out what it is for you.. One of the universities.

 

[phillywood]

Eric, I forgot to ask fi you had enough of it to share the fun of turning it with others. I'd be willing to buy couple of blanks from you. It just lloks gourgeous.

 

[1080Wayne]

Have only seen spalt like that in maple , but that doesn`t mean anything . Thin CA the end of a couple blanks , sand to 320 and post a picture , and I might be able to help . A piece with growth rings about 1/4 inch wide would be most useful .

 

[1080Wayne]

Second thought . The `V` pattern in the top piece is suggestive of a fluted growth ring . Are there many of them on a flat sawn piece ? If so , butternut would be a possibility .

 

[joeatact]

Sycamore

 

[fernhills]

Looks like spalted Beech.

 

[jimm1]

Since it was found in North Carolina, a couple of guesses: Pear, Cottonwood, Blackgum.

This site might help out: http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/indextotal.htm

 

[Sylvanite]

From the weight, look, and smell of a not-yet-rotten piece from the end of the log, as well as the other trees in the area, I'm beginning to suspect that this might be smoothbark hickory. The figure appears to come from the pattern in which the wood is decaying. The pale cells are much softer than the brown separating lines (and will need stabilizing). Looking at sounder sections, the pale spots are present, but much smaller.

Of course, I haven't ruled out beech or sycamore yet. I have both growing on my property as well (although generally more downhill near the river). I hope that makes things more interesting.

Regards,
Eric

 

[1080Wayne]

Eric
I assume that you probably have blanks of beech , sycamore and hickory on hand . Sand the endgrain of each and compare to your unknown . Beech and sycamore both have prominent rays and a fine diffuse pore structure . Sycamores rays are fairly uniform in width and spacing , beech is much more variable . Smoothbark (pignut) hickory is a ring porous wood , so you should see a somewhat irregular row of large pores , with a reduction in pore size in the late wood . Hickory`s rays are fine , probably not visible without a hand lens . The other distinguishing characteristic of hickory is banded parenchyma , a fairly continous line of light coloured cells which runs perpendicular to the rays at about the same spacing , forming a reticulate pattern with the rays . It won`t be visible without a lens on narrow growth ring wood , but may be on wide growth rings . Hope this helps .
Wayne

 

[BobRad]

Try this place - I just found it

http://insidewood.lib.ncsu.edu/search.0;jsessionid=f66d3481c0cf520389f992e051f8

 

[Sylvanite]

Here are a few pics of a pen blank from the sound end of the log. The blank is about 1 inch square. I tried to keep the color rendition as true as possible, but colors appear different on different monitors. I'd characterize it as "pecan brown". That is, a medium-dark brown with slight red tints.

Does that make identification any easier?

Regards,
Eric

P.S. The pores in the endgrain are bigger than I think beech or sycamore should be, and the rays are invisible except under magnification, so I'm leaning more towards hickory. There is also a photo of hickory endgrain on hobbithouseinc.com that looks very similar. Did I mention that the sound wood is very heavy?

 

[1080Wayne]

I would think it is one of the true hickories ( Pignut , Shellbark , Shagbark or Mockernut) . Pignut is supposed to be the densest of the hickories , but I would expect you could find samples of Shagbark and Mockernut that would fall into Pignuts density range , depending on growing conditions and position in the tree .

 

[Sylvanite]

I've decided that this must be Pignut Hickory. It grew in an area that has different hickory types (including shagbark, shellbark, and pignut). The trunk in question grew up right next to 2 pignuts, and there was a small piece of bark left that was definitely not shaggy. I have some other hickory species as well (either mockernut or bitternut), but they are less common and growing in other spots. There are no sycamore or beech trees in that area but lots of hickory, white oak, and red maple.

I also believe that the pattern in the wood is not true figure, but the result of decay. It isn't really spalt, but rather small spots of rot spreading into one another. Different areas of the log show different degrees of decay - from solid wood, through slightly spotty, to honeycomb-like, and downright punky. It is all still damp and will need to dry before turning. I'll make some blanks available for others to try soon.

Regards,
Eric