Unknown wood blank

[Dale Allen]

I cannot figure out what this is for sure. At first I thought of curly maple but the cut is different than anything I have seen. The odd part is that the lighter streaks seem to shift when you turn the blank. I guess the light is reflecting on those areas differently. Any ideas?

 

[mrcook4570]

I can't say for sure if it is maple, but it looks very much like it came from a crotch in the tree.

 

[1080Wayne]

The shifting of the light patterns is called chatoyance . It is frequently found in crotch wood . Some wood species are more prone to it than others . Also can`t be sure of wood type from the photo , but could be maple .

 

[Freethinker]

Yep, you have a piece there that seems LOADED with chatoyance.....and I really love seeing chatoyance in any pen.

I look forward to seeing the final creation.......that blank really deserves a high end pen kit.

 

[Dan Hintz]

And the chatoyance can be enhanced (faked in some cases?) with a little metallic gold resin casting / stabilization.

 

[bruce119]

Boy sure is hard to tell.

I got Camphor that would look a lot like that.

Smell from cutting or shaving would be a dead give a way.

.

 

[Randy Simmons]

I would think poplar. Maybe. The brown coloring towards the bottom seems characteristic of poplar.

If I could smell the picture, I'd know for sure :wink:

 

[mikespenturningz]

Whatever it is you won't need to enhance the chatoyance on it because it is loaded you need to really work that piece it will make an absolutely beautiful pen. Maple is really known for this but I am not sure if it is maple or not but it could be.

 

[stonepecker]

How about another picture? Maybe a scratch and sniff? ROTF!
Try turning the blank and taking a photo without showing the chatoyance.....maybe then we can see more of the wood.

That is a awesome blank and like others have said....it deserves some special treatment. That is one special piece of wood.

 

[Dale Allen]

Thanks all for your input.
I discovered that I had another one of these that I had turned round earlier.
Yea, I know, a sanded shot of the flat would have been helpful too.
Anyway, I took the other one and did a quickie CA finish and polish to see if the effect remained. It did! I took 2 shot but turned the blank just slightly as you can see by the reference mark at the top. Most of the darker brown seems to disappear.
It has no odor of any kind and it is quite hard so camphor and poplar are out. Actually it seems harder than most of the maple that I have worked with up to now. I have a pen made from figured maple that has a little of the chatoyance effect but not nearly as much as this one has.