Wood ID Help

[QuillandQuiver]

I was given this dark piece from someone who knew I turned pens. (Curly maple is in the background for comparison). The best I can describe it is that it's very dense and heavy and hard as can be...as if it were stabilized but it's just plane jane wood from what I can tell. Is it teak?

Thanks guys!

 

[KenB259]

Looks quite a bit like chechen but it's anyones guess.

 

[leehljp]

The yellowish lighting makes it difficult to judge based on color and does obscure the grain a bit. The color makes me think of aged cherry, but your description (heavy) makes it seem otherwise.

Teak - don't think so. Natural Teak generally is golden in color.

 

[monophoto]

Has the person who gifted the wood recently had a deck constructed?

If so, I would guess meranti.

 

[Fred Bruche]

From your description of "heavy", the color and grain, it is probably exotic. Could be something like Pau Rosa or granadillo

 

[southernclay]

Maybe Jatoba

 

[QuillandQuiver]

If I could explain the coloring, it would be much darker than the red look it has in the picture. It's basically straight brown. Pau Rosa looks closest at this point...

Any votes for Ipe?

 

[leehljp]

Several years ago, I ran into an interesting wood slab about 2 ft by 3 ft and 2 inches thick that was that color once and after deciphering the writing (kuwa) in Japanese, I realized it was mulberry. Quite surprised that mulberry was that color, I bought that piece of wood. Once I got it home (in Japan) and cut a corner off, I found out that the mulberry was a golden color very similar to teak. Cottonwood and mulberry (and a few other woods) have a very heavy amount of tannins that turn the surface a walnut brown - if cut when it is still green, but it will have a different color if kiln dried, or allowed to air dry for a few years before milling.

 

[gimpy]

African black wood would be my guess

 

[penicillin]

When asking wood identification questions, it helps to include a clear, detailed photo of the end grain.

Keep in mind that the colors everyone sees on their individual screens are not accurate. There are many steps between when the photo is taken and it is displayed on a faraway screen, and color calibration is nearly impossible to maintain from end to end.