Unknown Wood found along side of road!

-- Mike in Bonney Lake " If you are real real real good your whole life, You 'll be buried in a curly maple coffin when you die."

Disclaimer: I am NOT a wood species specialist. But to me the unfinished wood looks like some brazilian cherry I purchased on EBay.

-- Even the best of men relish a little spice every now and then... HG Somers, circa 1905

I agree it looks like brazillian cherry, aka jatoba, to me.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

Whatever it is, you scored. How pretty!

-- Allison, Northeastern Ca. Remember, Amateurs built the Ark. Professionals built the Titanic!

Brazillian Cherry…... 2

all the rest ….nil

before i worked it ..and sanded it ..it was lighter….then inside it is darker and then the only thing i finished it with was walnut oil ….from Safeway …6.99 a small bottle …

I keep looking at it and it looks so much like a relative of a dark Mahogany.

-- Mike in Bonney Lake " If you are real real real good your whole life, You 'll be buried in a curly maple coffin when you die."

Did it dull your tools?
How was it to work with?
It is nice looking wood and it does finish nicely, the grain really popped.

-- Ed Collinge- Edmonds, WA.

Ed …Hey Ed …up in Edmonds huh ….Hello

On the dulling of tools question ….i only used the bandsaw and sander …as i resawed a thin piece off and then cut to length and then it was really simple to sand to shape and voila ….so no dulling ….
Tho come to think of it i did cut some on my miter saw ..only a few cuts …have not cut anything else so have not noticed any dulling …

thanks for the nice words …

-- Mike in Bonney Lake " If you are real real real good your whole life, You 'll be buried in a curly maple coffin when you die."

The letter opener looks like red oak. A good old American staple wood. Used for pallets a lot.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

Wow Karson ….....Wow is all i can say …
I did not expect anyone to suggest red oak …hmmmmmmmmmmm

The color of this wood is really RED Mahogany RED …as RED as MIN-WAX GEL STAIN Red MAhogany …but I have to admit the grain pattern resembles oak …

But i am 61 yrs old and never seen any Oak this red …and those boards do not look like oak …

Karson do you have any dark bright red oak in your collection ….I would love to compare …

thanks .I was afraid Brazillian Cherry was gonna score a hat trick and a shutout …

my assumption was this was from pallets from afar …......ASIA or South America …These pieces were attached, nailed to other lighter color wood …all of it was hard as be jeesus …took some sweat to get the nails out on Sat morning …

Thanks all .. keep the ideas coming in …

-- Mike in Bonney Lake " If you are real real real good your whole life, You 'll be buried in a curly maple coffin when you die."

The letter opener definitely looks like red oak.

-- Depend on the rabbit's foot if you will, but remember it didn't work for the rabbit.

I have seen this wood before from crates that granite slabs are shipped in from India.

-- Oldworld, Fair Oaks, Ca

Hey John …thanks for your comments …..I used to live in Rancho Cordova …40 yrs ago …

-- Mike in Bonney Lake " If you are real real real good your whole life, You 'll be buried in a curly maple coffin when you die."

cool wood, my first though was that is too orange. but then i looked at a piece in my house and mine too is a redish orange. so maybe it is brazilin cherry

-- mjhaines

I really have a feeling every one is right about Brazilian Cherry. Two other possabilitys if it has a spicey odor when you machine it, then it’s most likely Santos Mahogany, we have been getting some real crappy teak that looks like that its no good for furniture as far as I’ve seen so far. So I could see it getting used as dunnage.
Mike we will have to get together sometime seen as we live so far from one another. I was talking to another LJ today and offered to take a look at something for him seen as he had listed living in Seattle, turns out he lives here in Edmonds. It’s really a small world isn’t it. By the way are you going to be attending the picnic next month?
Talk with you later,

-- Ed Collinge- Edmonds, WA.

I was going to say oak before reading any of the comments… never seen any of it that red but the grain pattern looks like oak.

-- Rob (A) Waxahachie,TX

I was at a website called EXOTIC WOODS INC and looking thru their pix of exotic imported and domestic woods and have come up with a # of possibilities of what kinda wood this is …
Braz Cherry Jatoba ( this is a possibility tho i am not convinced because the grain pattern of Jatoba vs my unknown is diff ...)

Mahogany Santos is very similar in grain
SHE OAK (Aus) ( Has similar grain but color is a bit more orange on this one ).
Jarrah (Aus) ( This is a Eucalyptus and is Very similar wood grain and color)

Mahogany Khaya (Africa) (Is really similar in grain and color ). THIS IS MY SELECTION !!!

I think my unknown wood is a Mahogany Khaya and Khaya Mahog looks the most like what i have in my hand…

-- Mike in Bonney Lake " If you are real real real good your whole life, You 'll be buried in a curly maple coffin when you die."

Now i am second guessing myself …as the specks in the grain in my wood …are def black …and the specks in the pic of Khaya Mahogany above are red …?

-- Mike in Bonney Lake " If you are real real real good your whole life, You 'll be buried in a curly maple coffin when you die."