# Pallet wood ID?



## ADHDan (Aug 17, 2012)

I picked up a bunch of these boards for free from the pallet bin at Home Depot. I made a few rips to clean away the dirty and discolored surface; they have a greenish tint but seem denser/heavier than poplar (although I could be wrong). Any ideas what I might have found?




























Thanks!


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## WDHLT15 (Aug 15, 2011)

Hard to say from the pics. Can you take a few more close up pics, and one of a clean slice of the end grain (using a razor knife)?


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## ADHDan (Aug 17, 2012)

Sorry for the delayed response. Here are more pictures.


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## bondogaposis (Dec 18, 2011)

Looks kind of like cottonwood, but cottonwood is not dense.


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## ADHDan (Aug 17, 2012)

Based on some Google image searching I don't think it's cottonwood, but I can't be sure. In terms of weight/density, it feels just a little lighter than oak.


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

It's obviously Palletwood, which come from the Palletwood tree:


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## alohafromberkeley (Oct 26, 2011)

Ahh, Charlie, thanks for clearing that up. I have the same wood from a pallet and never knew what the tree looked like! Obviously deciduous.


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## ADHDan (Aug 17, 2012)

Based on that tree and the size of the palletwood I've got, I can only conclude that this is some crazy opposite-day tree where the branches grow thicker AFTER they've been cut, dried and milled.

Seriously though I wish I knew what this was. It has an attractive grain and color, and I have enough to make a small project but not enough for something bigger. I also don't know how best to finish it.


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## bowedcurly (Aug 31, 2013)

popular is the song


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## bowedcurly (Aug 31, 2013)

the gray, black, and green is a dead giveaway should popular if it's dry should be medium light medium hard with a popular scent


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## bowedcurly (Aug 31, 2013)

pallet wood is sometime used fairly green so the wt will throw you thinking it's a dense wood


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## bowedcurly (Aug 31, 2013)

if it's hard it's sweet gum thats a pallet wood they use a lot


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## BinghamtonEd (Nov 30, 2011)

Home Depot has a pallet bin? Where the heck is that? I feel like I've been missing out.


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## b2rtch (Jan 20, 2010)

Many pallets are made of poplar and the wood you show could be poplar


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## richardwootton (Jan 17, 2013)

It looks very poplar-esque to me…


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## ADHDan (Aug 17, 2012)

Ok, great - so it probably is poplar. I thought it looked like it, but the weight was throwing me off.

Home Depot technically doesn't have a pallet bin of free wood; I spend way too much time (and money) on their cull bin, and as a result I've gotten in good with some of the Pro Desk/lumberyard staff. They let me pick over the "Staff Only" pile (which they use for pallets and stickering), as long as I don't take much. And since 95% of what's there is worthless (to me), it works out well. Every so often I find something neat - red or white oak, poplar, a few pieces of curly cherry…


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## ADHDan (Aug 17, 2012)

On another note, is there any decent way to finish poplar other than painting it? I actually really like the grain and hues in the pieces I found, and (assuming they're dry enough to work with) I'd prefer to highlight rather than hide those features.


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## shelly_b (Aug 8, 2012)

kinda looks like maple too, if not poplar


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## bondogaposis (Dec 18, 2011)

On another note, is there any decent way to finish poplar other than painting it?

Yes, one interesting thing I've played around with poplar is that it ebonizes quite well. The color you get is not black but more like a medium tone walnut. Just take some steel wool and dissolve it in vinegar for a few days then filter the black gunk out through a coffee filter and brush the now clear liquid on to some poplar and watch the color slowly darken. I have yet to incorporate this idea into a project yet, but I think it has some merit.


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## ADHDan (Aug 17, 2012)

I've never heard of that, but it sounds worth a try.


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## jordanp (Feb 1, 2013)

I've seen some walnut that looks close to that also
Dan, does it have a smell?


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## WDHLT15 (Aug 15, 2011)

Your wood is sweetgum. That color is very nice, and you see it a lot in the heartwood of sweetgum. Sweetgum has spiral grain, so it wants to twist and warp. It is best quartersawn. Do your pieces have and twist and warp?


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## TCCcabinetmaker (Dec 14, 2011)

The coloring is off a tad on this computer screen, on purpose for a specific program, but, I have the feeling that if you held that up to a piece of china birch plywood you'd get your answer.


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## WDHLT15 (Aug 15, 2011)

I am 100% sure that it is sweetgum.


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## ADHDan (Aug 17, 2012)

Well dang - perhaps it's sweetgum.

Is sweetgum good for woodworking? What's the best way to finish it?


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## WDHLT15 (Aug 15, 2011)

I am not a big fan of it for woodworking because of the spiral grain and the tendency to twist. Where each board is free to move, like in T&G paneling, it can be stunningly beautiful. Glue it up in a wide panel and it will break your heart.


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## summerfi (Oct 12, 2013)

If the wood is hard and heavy, I think it's sweet gum. Doesn't look like yellow poplar to me, and poplar is not heavy when dry.


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