Help me identify wood.

Looks like spalted maple to me. There’s a way to tell if it’s soft or hard maple … something you can put on the wood that turns soft maple a different color. Without that, I’d guess this is soft maple because of the grey undertone. I’m sure some other guys on here are better at identifying than I am!

-- http://www.north40custom.com -- http://north40studios.etsy.com --

spalted maple. If you don’t want it where can I pick it up?

-- Thos. Angle

I agree Spalted maple is not for everyone. I made some drawer fronts for my wife’s kitchen and sh didn’t like them. So I made walnut instead.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

It looks like it would be nice for boxes, or decorative birdhouses. Click on birdhouse tag to see some.

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

CharlieM1959 and I will take what you don’t give Tom. This stuff makes my heart race. Just remember to wear a dustmask when working it. It can cause some very nasty lung disease. Oh, and Iowa- I’m only just one state over.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

I agree with the others…but who really knows? Would need closer shots of the long and end grain…

There have been some good wood id blogs or forums around here I recall…

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

Visual is just one way to identify wood. To really assess wood i personally have to hold a piece to get a sense of its density and preferably cut into it to smell it. You grab a board of Maple and you know right away whether its hard or soft Maple!

-- miles125, Alabama.."Architecture is frozen music""

I agree with the others,looks like spalted Maple (Western,Big Leaf) but could also be Alder or Birch.Regardless it would make nice boxes or preferably to me,nice tops for boxes,and use a simple grained wood like Eastern Maple for the body.

One of the frustrations with spalted woods is the fact that they can be fairly well in to the decay stage and it is common to find rot and soft punky material in with the colors and ink lines that are desireable.Very difficult to work with.The best wood is when you get marbled coloring and/or fine caligraphy lines in solid wood.They resemble paintings, or Chinese writing,or Old World maps.Those are the most prized pieces.To the right person (me) they are worth more than Amboyna orThuga Burl. We get this fairly regularly out here in Oregon, but the wood with the fine ink lines goes so fast you seldom get a chance to buy any.It starts out at $15.00 b.ft and goes way up from there.

If you decide not to use it,consider putting it on Ebay.It will sell.

-- " If I can make it,so can you" Andy in Oregon

I think the BEST free index of wood species with good pictures is found here.

I’ve spent hours getting to know about wood that I didn’t dream existed. God is good to give us all that wood!
I’m a poet and did not know it….. LOL

This web site as of Mid August 2007 has over 17,000 pictures of over 680 species of wood….WOW!!! I saved this page as a Complete HTML web page on my hard drive so I don’t have to wait so long for all the pics to load—I’d suggest the same for anyone who likes the site.

THIS is the page dedicated to spalted maple on that site.

-- Lane Custom Guitars and Basses

I agree that visual id is only one – less than perfect – way to id wood. The ideal way is to analyze the cellular structure on the end grain. See Bruce Hoadley’s texts for more info…

Andy, et al. – We’ll be milling up some spalted maple tomorrow – can’t wait to see what we get!

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

Frank has posted this resource for wood ID. Very thorough. Also like a Sears Wish Book (Christmas Catalogue) for wood folk.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.