A riddle...

[azamiryou]

What looks like amboyna burl, turns like amboyna burl, but doesn't smell like amboyna burl?

Turning a piece of what I thought was amboyna burl, I didn't get any of the delightful spicy aroma of amboyna. Instead it was fairly neutral, just a faint woody smell and occasional whiffs I might describe as fruity. Is it reasonable to suppose it was a piece of amboyna, but lacking in the oils or whatever that give it that smell? Or is it more likely that what i've got is something else?

 

[tim self]

OK, I'll jump first. W/O pics im going with Mango burl.

 

[Buzzzz4]

Fool's Amboyna?

--No clue

 

[Justturnin]

Was it hard like 'noya?

 

[azamiryou]

I'm not familiar with 'noya, what's that? Short for "amboyna"? The feel of turning it was just like amboyna, but I would not describe amboyna as "hard".

For a photo, look at any amboyna pen. Really, it looks exactly like amboyna. I'll try to get a photo up this evening, anyway.

Hmmm, mango burl. Checking some photos, that looks like a possibility. I wasn't aware of having any mango in my wood supply, but I could have gotten a piece in a trade or something. The fruitiness I smelled was just a quick whiff, maybe twice in the course of turning two pen barrels.

 

[Justturnin]

yes. 'noya = Ambnoya. The Ambnoya I have turned was pretty hard, not DIW hard but not soft like a Redwood, more like Oak Burl.

Curious that all was the same but the smell. Can a wood dry out so much that it loses its aroma even when cut?

 

[mrcook4570]

Based on your description, I would say that afzelia burl is a possibility. The two can sometimes look very similar, but afzelia lacks the distinct spicy aroma of amboyna. Afzelia does have a unique odor, but it is not a strong odor at all. The best that I can describe the odor of afzelia would be a faint smell of burnt oranges.

 

[Andrew_K99]

I'd guess it is ambnoya, but a piece that has sat out for a long time and lost it's scent.

AK

 

[nativewooder]

Were there any long white whiskers growing out of it?:biggrin:

 

[Jim Burr]

Afzelia? Spell check doesn't work on that so hope I'm close with the spelling.

 

[leehljp]

Where are you guys getting Ambnoya? Its Amboyna.

Look up Ambnoya on Google
Then look up Amboyna.

I am guessing someone mixed some Padauk burl with the Amboyna from where ever you purchased yours from. I have a padauk burl bowl that came from Malaysia (purchased at a Malay pavilion in Nagoya during the World Expo 2005) and it looks very much like Amboyna. It smells different too. More mild. The Padauk is a little lighter weight to me. I have had some Amboyna burls given to me by some friends from the Philippines and the Padauk looks very close but not quite as heavy.

 

[azamiryou]

Afzelia is a good guess. I knew I had some pieces of that, and as soon as it didn't smell like amboyna, that's what I thought it was. I decided it wasn't afzelia because it lacks the dark specks and lines that are usually there.

Further photo research on the web has revealed some photos of afzelia that don't show those dark specks, and "faint smell of burnt oranges" is a pretty good description of what I experienced, so I'm declaring it to be afzelia.

That makes mrcook4570 the winner! What do you win? Er, um... how about this gold star? :star:

 

[PenMan1]

My first guess, without looking at photos would be Padauk. My LAST guess would be DIW. DIW doesn't smell like Amboyna when turned, it smells like .....s....desert iron wood.