We need a wood identification forum!

[Skie_M]

LOL .... staring at the forums and subforums for 5 minutes, wondering where I'm supposed to go to ask what kind of wood this is ... That's just rediculous!


Anyways ... as some of you fine folks know by now, I and several others suffer from effects of sensitivity, specifically towards problematic woods like Cocobolo. The oils can cause rashes and other allergic reactions, and the dust can carry these oils all over the place.

I do have several dozen examples of Cocobolo here to compare this piece to, but I can't be sure of what it is, as I'm just not familiar enough with all the various woods it COULD be... so, I asked the person who sent it, but there was an unusually cryptic code written on the blank's sticker ... THMBOT1

I went ahead and took a few shavings with my little block plane .... made sure to wash up right after, of course!

It's beautiful .... hoping it's NOT Cocobolo, but I have some here with a similar creamy colored sapwood attached to it ...

It's coloration is fairly close, the weight is very close, and the hardness of the wood is also extremely close.

The sapwood is very lightweight stuff ... almost like pine... just like Cocobolo sapwood.

 

[MDWine]

Tamboti or Tambootie?

I think THMBOT1 pulled the trigger for me...
Tambootie or Tamboti from Griffin Exotic Wood


Tamboti | Rare Woods South Africa | Cape Town & Knysna
Properties:
Hard and durable. Timber must not be used for cooking meat over a fire, as the fumes are toxic.

Description and uses:
Used to make furniture, and small turned objects. Knife handles. Differential colouring between heartwood and sapwood can be used to good effect.

 

[Skie_M]

Oh ... sounds like an interesting find!


I'll try turning it next week and see how it looks on a Caballero ...

 

[ed4copies]

When in doubt, sand or cut the piece--note the smell. Cocobolo smells (to me) like cigars.

 

[Skie_M]

..... way too many smells in my house today ... already did 2 pens last night, plus a sanding jig for my lathe for off-center sanding (it's almost done ... still working on the mandrel pieces).


I'll have to stick it in a baggie and take it to work and see what it smells like where I'm surrounded by the smell of rubber, kanjine, and tires ....

 

[KenV]

Tamboti has an incense like odor. nothing like cocobolo which is a member of the rosewood family.

If you have alergic reactions and there is a question, swap it for a different blank, or at least be sure someone is around to use the epipen or call 911.

 

[Skie_M]

At this point, I just get a bad rash .... but I understand that Cocobolo is a sensitizer, and that my reaction to exposure will get progressively worse each time I am exposed to it. This is why I'm waiting to turn my stockpile of Cocobolo till I have a proper wood shop with a real dust extraction system in place... I'll also be wearing an apron and gloves while I turn it, with an air filtration system nearby to help filter particulates out of the air that the DC is missing.

 

[jttheclockman]

That can be many different types of woods and when people ask that question they show a small sample such as this. Who knows but i too put it in the rosewood family.

 

[robutacion]

That can be many different types of woods and when people ask that question they show a small sample such as this. Who knows but i too put it in the rosewood family.

I was going to say that, "if it smells like a duck, flies like a duck and quacks like a duck, there's a good chance it is a duck...!" however, the pics of the Tambootie did look a good match also to the code in the wood.

I have a couple of woods that look like that, the best one is the Australian Mahogany but I/m sure it is not it.

A wood identification forum..? do you have any idea of the monstrous task would entail? there is already so much material online and even though, I have a hard time identifying some of the wood's I find, there are far too many wood species in this world that look identical however, from very different wood species.

As for woods that will give people some nasty reactions, one of the easiest ways to find out if you are allergic to it or not is to sand/plane clean a piece of that wood and rub it on your under arm where the skin is more sensitive and wait a few minutes, if a red rush will appear, that indicates you are allergic to it, wash that area well and then apply white vinegar, the irritation should disappear within 30 minutes.

Cheers
George

 

[KenV]

At this point, I just get a bad rash .... but I understand that Cocobolo is a sensitizer, and that my reaction to exposure will get progressively worse each time I am exposed to it. This is why I'm waiting to turn my stockpile of Cocobolo till I have a proper wood shop with a real dust extraction system in place... I'll also be wearing an apron and gloves while I turn it, with an air filtration system nearby to help filter particulates out of the air that the DC is missing.

If you are lucky, you will not have the rapid change from rash to having your breathing affected. Alergic reactions are not very predictable once they start.

Good luck, but invest in an epipen if you are going to persist with rosewoods.

 

[jttheclockman]

HobbitHouse Wood ID site


Look at all the rosewood photos. Could be many.


The Wood Database

 

[duncsuss]

HobbitHouse Wood ID site


Look at all the rosewood photos. Could be many.


The Wood Database

Paul Hinds is the guy behind the Hobbit House wood id site. He answers many questions on the Wood ID section of Woodbarter.com.

In order to get an accurate ID, it is necessary to see the end grain in clear close-up - - he has hundreds of examples of what this means, but to give you a hint: rough sawn won't be good enough, you have to sand it to perhaps 400 grit.

If you really want to know what your piece of wood is, Paul is your best bet.

 

[KenV]

The Forest Products Labratory in Madison Wisconsin will do a few samples a year per person. The FPL web site has instructions on how to sample and send. Just takes a small amount. They are world known experts and are paid with tax dollars.

 

[Skie_M]

Thankfully, Clayton (who sent me the blanks) came back with a positive ID on the Tambootie!

This is gorgeous stuff, and up close it really does look and feel like Cocobolo ... if I can turn this with no problems, I will certainly look in to obtaining more!

 

[Skie_M]

Hmmm .... something bit me.


I have a rash on top of my foot, but I was quite careful while handling the Tambootie when I took my hand plane to it ... plus Tambootie shouldn't have given me a rash. (I wear sandals all over the house, as there are wood shavings piled up in the living room ... still working towards a shed for a wood shop.)

So ... since it couldn't have been the Tambootie ... what about rosewood?

I know I'm sensitive to Cocobolo, and it is also called Mexican Rosewood, and is related to Kingwood and Tulipwood as well as other rosewoods. I also picked up several blanks of Violet-Black Indian Rosewood recently, and got them in today as well. Could a shaving or two of this expose me and give me a rash? If that's the case, I may have to be careful of this stuff along with my Burmese Rosewood...

Still, it was beautiful when I hand planed a piece of this Violet-Black Indian Rosewood with my Afzelia Burl wood blanks ... the colors, the grain patterns ... absolutely lovely!

Might have to start wearing socks and shoes in the house for a while ...

 

[randyrls]

Gregory; I would seriously advise you to invest in a dust collection hood! I use one all the time and it sucks up all the dust and shavings.

Mine is modeled after this one from the library.

Thanks to MesquiteMan (Curtis) for posting this!!!!!! :highfive:

PS. WOW!!!! TWO MUST HAVE LINKS IN ONE THREAD!! Thanks for posting the links!

These should be posted to the Links section of the site.

 

[jttheclockman]

Gregory; I would seriously advise you to invest in a dust collection hood! I use one all the time and it sucks up all the dust and shavings.

Mine is modeled after this one from the library.

Thanks to MesquiteMan (Curtis) for posting this!!!!!! :highfive:

PS. WOW!!!! TWO MUST HAVE LINKS IN ONE THREAD!! Thanks for posting the links!

These should be posted to the Links section of the site.

If you are referring to the links I posted you are correct and the reason I like these 2 sites is the first one gives you all views of a wood species cut in different ways. Just click on the wood. The second gives alot of info about the species of wood. Again just click on the wood in question. They are my go to wood ID sites. I had another site that specifically showed toxicity of woods but lost that link in my saved folders somehow. There is a ton of different spiecies of woods and I bet there is not one site that has them all listed but these are close.

 

[Skie_M]

... PS. WOW!!!! TWO MUST HAVE LINKS IN ONE THREAD!! Thanks for posting the links!

These should be posted to the Links section of the site.

Hmmm .... at least one of them is already posted in the Library...


Arizona Tree Identification
Center for Wood Anatomy Research
Hobbit House Wood ID Pictures
Virginia Tech Tree ID
What Tree Is It?
US Forest Service R&D Lab

These are all links posted in the IAP Library under General Reference.

The problem is, some of these resources, while quite good, are only good for the immediate area or state that the reference is based on ... for example, the "What Tree Is It?" site that I used to identify the mystery tree in my hard as Chinese Elm is based in Ohio and only really deals with trees that you would be likely to find there. It closely matches the leaves of the tree I have here in my yard, but a Chinese Elm has seeds of some sort with a largish fruit ... an inch to two inches across? This tree has small 1/4" to 1/2" berries in singles ... so definitely not a Chinese Elm.