Forum topic by sawdust4brainz | posted 10-15-2015 01:46 AM | 1009 views | 0 times favorited | 14 replies | ![]() |
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10-15-2015 01:46 AM |
Topic tags/keywords: wood beam species identification unknown wood barn find Good evening LJ’ers worldwide. It’s been a very long time since i last posted; two deployments, one move across the country, and about 2 months of settling in later, I’m up and running again. The question du jour: what on earth species of wood is this ? The CL ad claimed it was oak, but after planing off the old, greyed nastiness and seeing what’s underneath this isn’t any oak i’ve ever seen. That said, i’m somewhat of a novice. Please excuse if the pics don’t do it full justice; they were taken with my phone and may not capture all the detail. The wood has a yellow tone that the phone just didn’t pick up on, which makes me wonder if it’s poplar. There’s a wee bit of spalting in the one beam i’ve planed thus far, and i suspect i’ll find the same in the others. Separately, please forgive the state of the shop. It’s still in setup and i’ll post when complete. Right now it’s a disaster. |
14 replies so far
#1 posted 10-15-2015 02:40 AM |
The pics don’t show a lot of detail, so I’m throwing out a wild guess, but it does appear to be poplar. Can you describe how hard and how heavy the wood is? Poplar is fairly light and while it is referred to as hardwood, scratches and dents quite easily. |
#2 posted 10-15-2015 02:43 AM |
It does look like poplar. Mine tends to have more color, but the poplar at the store looks a lot like that. -- Mother Nature created it, I just assemble it. |
#3 posted 10-15-2015 03:30 AM |
Poplar -- Bruce, Boise, ID |
#4 posted 10-15-2015 03:45 AM |
Poplar indeed… -- Don Boston RECreations by Don http://recreationsbydon.com |
#5 posted 10-15-2015 06:13 AM |
If the color in the pics is accurate, the light green is a dead giveaway that it is poplar. No other wood has that color. -- Mark Kornell, Kornell Wood Design |
#6 posted 10-15-2015 11:44 AM |
Agree with Mark. I was entertaining possibly maple or ash until I saw the green. Definitely poplar. Only species that I know of that has that light tinted green, which can also go to a rather dark green. I even used it one time inlaid into the back of a bass guitar for a bass player in a reggae band. He wanted green/yellow/red, a Pan-African look on the back of the bass. I had to help the green a little with some green tint, but the base color was there and made it easy. The body is African mahogany. The other two colors are yellowheart and redheart, in their natural state. -- Tsunami Guitars and Custom Woodworking, Cleveland, TN |
#7 posted 10-15-2015 01:31 PM |
I go with Poplar here too. That green streak is almost a dead giveaway. And it’s got the pale creamy color as well as some dark streaks. -- "woodworker with an asterisk" |
#8 posted 10-15-2015 07:00 PM |
Y’all are crazy. That’s poplar. ;) -- Kenny, SW VA, Go Hokies!!! |
#9 posted 10-15-2015 07:42 PM |
I have once a linden wood who looks something like that.You can smell it,if it is poplar you will feel a pale bitter aroma. -- Personality and character of a man is like wood,must polish it to shine... |
#10 posted 10-15-2015 07:53 PM |
Yup, here’s another vote for popular. |
#11 posted 10-15-2015 10:08 PM |
Definitely agree, it’s poplar. The green streaking is unique. -- Allen, Colorado (Instagram @bobasaurus_woodworking) |
#12 posted 10-15-2015 11:15 PM |
Thanks for all the support and expertise gents. I dub this poplar, and will post some more pics when i get the other 10 beams planed out. Working under the assumption that i had oak, i was going to use this for an office desktop, and any leftovers were going to benchtop surface in my shop. Poplar is probably too soft for that kind of duty, right ? Any other uses for a mega butt-ton of poplar ?? |
#13 posted 10-16-2015 12:48 AM |
Mahogany. -- Rick M, http://thewoodknack.blogspot.com/ |
#14 posted 10-16-2015 02:56 AM |
i was going to use this for an office desktop, and any leftovers were going to benchtop surface in my shop. Poplar is probably too soft for that kind of duty, right ? Poplar could be used for just about any other part of the desk except for the top. I believe it would be too easy to dent for that application. I’m sure you know, poplar is a dream to work .. cuts easily and is easy on your tools. It’s pretty stable, it turns well, and it takes paint well. Some think it stains well also. It would be good for any type of wooden item that (carefully put) you wouldn’t want to pass down as a family heirloom (except, it is often used as the undercarriage of some furniture .. just not furniture that would have to support weight, such as chairs, settees, etc. (except for, say, children’s furniture). It’s great for toys, molding, spindles, jigs, clocks, shelving, children’s furniture … Thanks for your service. |
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