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I'm not sure this will work well. Someone gave me this wood 3 piece laminate about 6 feet long 3" x 3" used as an elevator guide. It's hard enough I can't dent or scratch it with my fingernail and the grain is attractive perhaps for necks. The orientation of the laminate is quartersawn.
I just have no idea what it is. Anyone take a stab at this? I realize identifying from pictures is hard, but right or wrong I would like to call it something besides "that wood"

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Anything too stupid to be said is sung. -Voltaire

Maple, me thinks.

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Pat : My guess is maple or birch.

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

I'm with Steve, maple. It would be good to see the edge as well as most woods are a little more distinctive when viewed on the face and the edge.

Shane

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Canada

Another vote for Maple, and if you cannot put a dent into it with a fingernail then I'd guess Hard Maple no really, I mean Hard Maple as in Sugar Maple or Rock Maple (Acer saccharum.)

Dennis

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Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia

Walnut My real answer is birch.

birch

Looks like maple to me.

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Another one for maple

It does not look like ANY birch I have seen (and I have seen a fair bit).

Shane

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Canada

I've got a load of stock lumber left over from my furniture building days. I have Maple, Birch, Black Walnut, Poplar, and American Black Cherry. On occasion, some of the Birch in color can be similar to the Cherry. However, the patterns on the wood make them easy to distinguish from each other and even more when sanded. I've never seen Maple in that color and I have a lot of Hard and Soft Maple. I say it looks like Cherry based upon the posted pic and the grain (annular ring pattern) at least on my 32" HDTV computer screen. And if you desire, I can take pics of some of my stock and post it for comparison. Cherry was the primary wood I used to build most of my fine furniture. Maple was next. Birch was more for hidden framework along with Poplar. Soooooo..... Cherry!

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Bill Hodge


One does not simply, own enough guitars!

Bill,

The colour is definately on the "cherry" side of things but there is a lot of Big Leaf (western) Maple that tends to that shade (the lower pic). I too consdiered cherry but the grain structure is just not there for me on cherry. Google images of the various woods and you will see that birch has a much softer grain pattern (that is my experience as well) than in the pics, cherry is a bit more "course" typically (to my eyes anyway, but not much more) and this piece is bang on Western Maple.

Did I vote Western Maple yet?

Shane

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Canada

Shane,
I'm not totally convinced but it is possible you're right. I know Maple is easier to dent with your nail than Cherry is but that depends on how hard your nails are too. My nails are as hard as... well, nails! I can't dent Cherry easily but I can Maple. I've added a pic from a piece of Cherry I have sitting around my shop, and a Cherry OM style that is a WIP both pics without flash. The board above I do admit resembles Maple but......

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Bill Hodge


One does not simply, own enough guitars!

I think the pinkish cast of the photo, oxidation, and surface grime are subtle red herrings to fool our eyes and make us think Cherry. Cherry was my first thought, but the grain looks a lot more like Maple to me.

Alright Patrick, sand 'er down and let's see what fresh sanded wood looks like.

Dennis

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Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia

My first thought was birch or maple. I don't think you can really trust the color from a snapshot on a computer.

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Mike

"The Dude abides. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners. Shoosh." The Stranger

I agree that these are both possible and quite likely probable. I think Dennis is right about sanding it for a better look. I actually meant to suggest that but forgot to add it to my previous post. If you have a drum sander Patrick, run it through on a light pass or two and post another pic. That ought to settle it. I've been wrong before and certainly could be again. At least, I thought I was wrong once but I was mistaken.

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Bill Hodge


One does not simply, own enough guitars!

If it's cherry, a little sanding ought to release the aroma ... I hope they weren't using cherry for elevator guides!

And yes, "rock" or "sugar" maple can be as hard as cherry, maybe harder.

Ahhhh yes, the aroma. Kinda like old dirty socks.

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Bill Hodge


One does not simply, own enough guitars!

I'm gonna stick with birch.

its rather hard to tell...I'm guessing maple

birch and maple are similar, but upon close examination (which is rather hard because of the resolution of those images) one will notice certain differences...

the grain pattern on maple usually has a pinkish tint and is also smoother...the growth rings on birch tend to be rougher...one factor I've found to be very telling is when a tad of stain is applied...the pores on birch grab it more and give a salt and pepper appearance...

So here are some more crappy pictures (the only kind I know how to take!

Western Maple



Eastern Maple



Paper Birch (Quartersawn on the wide face)



The Western Maple I have is hard, I can't dent it with my fingernails.....that is typical for the western maple I have used from British Columbia and I have used a LOT of it. Cherry I am weaker on, I have only really done a few things in cherry. Anyway, these are just more pictures and really don't help to answer the question but hey....it's wood! Who doesn't like looking at wood?

Shane

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Canada

You are right Shane, almost as good as looking at a beautiful woman (I said ALMOST!)
(my appologies to any gals here, I just could not make myself say the converse)

Shane, do I owe you some data on board sizes still? I have been a bit OBE lately, still want those planks. I think I owe you some large format paper drawings too...

Mike

To the OP, what does it smell like? If anything?

It does look like maple...that was my first impression... but the color... I dunno.

Mike

Sorry for the late reply, I work 2nd shift and slept in.
I sanded lightly and cleared it off a bit. Here are some new shots with incandescent and flash

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Anything too stupid to be said is sung. -Voltaire

after seeing those flecks on the edges of those 2 quartersawn outside pieces I'm pretty confident that is maple..