What is it and is it any good as a pen blank

[CrazyBear]

Hi Guys & Gals

I wandered through my local sawmill some time ago and one of the guys let me take away some 3"x3"x38" pices of wood some was purpleheart and the other was a yellow hardwood. He told me what it was at the time but I was too busy loading 5 large pieces of purpleheart in my car boot

Now i am trying to identify it to see if it is any good for blanks.

Grain is very tight and faint. It is yellowish in colour and Stinks(Not unlike manure) when you cut it. The sawdust is a fine yellow dust.

Any Ideas

 

[maxwell_smart007]

Tree of Heaven, maybe?

But no, not sure!

 

[Rifleman1776]

Except for the stink part, your description and the out of focus photo suggest Mahogany.

 

[GBusardo]

Yellow heart? Tight grain, smelly, sounds like yellow heart to me []

 

[louisbry]

Sounds like Yellow Heart to me. Does this seem consistent with what a "local" sawmill in the UK would process?

 

[CrazyBear]

sorry about the photo (The old eyes aint what they used to be LOL). Though the grain doesnt show up much better in the flesh.

Definately not mahogany as I have piles of that in my shed.

I may just cut into thin strips and use it for Celtic knots or some other banding

 

[CrazyBear]

Had a look at Yellowheart online. This stuff is more orangey yellow.

Would you believe that the sawmill were using these as spacers to stack timber on.

The 'Local sawmill' is kinda relative term. they import hardwoods from all over the world and kiln dry them. I buy their kiln test samples and use them for making bowls etc.

I have had Teak, African Mahogany, Sapele wood, Oak, Walnut and the purpleheart so far..

you just dig in the pile and see what gems you find

 

[CrazyBear]

Hi Guys I have redone the photo to see if this works any better

 

[Rifleman1776]

Originally posted by CrazyBear
<br />Hi Guys I have redone the photo to see if this works any better

Perfectly clear now.

<br />

 

[GBusardo]

If that color on my screen is what it really is, maybe luana?

 

[CrazyBear]

Originally posted by GBusardo
<br />If that color on my screen is what it really is, maybe luana?

The colour on the screen is very close to the actual colour of the wood

 

[maxwell_smart007]

Luan is very similar to Mahogany, but comes from the Philipines

 

[CrazyBear]

Ah well The only way to find out is to turn it and see[][]

I have used some as segmented with purpleheart. waiting for the glue to dry at the moment(and some more pen kits to arrive) I will post a pic as soon as is done

 

[jclark58]

Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry)?

Jason

 

[Scotty]

From the pic and your description of the odor, sounds like the same
stuff I brought back from Brazil. I have been unable to identify it, too.