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Wood ID needed
https://luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=54965		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  windsurfer [ Sat May 07, 2022 4:55 pm ]
Post subject:  Wood ID needed
Pale yellow color. Very hard and dense. 1.5" x 12" section rings like a marimba bar. Ribbon striped on the quarter sawn face.
1/2 freshly sanded, golden half wiped with walnut oil
Sitting on 8/4 Sapele as a color reference

Any ideas?

-jd
Author:  Carey [ Sat May 07, 2022 6:26 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Wood ID needed
That looks like some wood I was given called "Ayan", I think. The piece I had was not very stable, but I made a plane body with it that worked out OK. Hard and heavy, but squirrely (if it's the same stuff).

Adding: I think that the piece I had was of South American origin, and it had quite a distinctive scent.
I gave the plane away so I can't give it a re-sniff, though. ;)
Author:  Clay S. [ Sat May 07, 2022 11:26 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Wood ID needed
Some sort of satinwood?
https://www.wood-database.com/sorting-out-satinwoods/
Author:  Hesh [ Sun May 08, 2022 4:12 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Wood ID needed
The wet part looks like very pale African mahogany to me.
Author:  Michaeldc [ Sun May 08, 2022 7:05 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Wood ID needed
Afrormosia?
Author:  windsurfer [ Sun May 08, 2022 9:05 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Wood ID needed
Thank you. That Aformosia board looks very similar, so it may be a winner

I have been trying to sort thru the satinwood substitutes to try to figure out the identity.
This list seems to include:
Ceylon satinwood
Pyimna
Movigui
Yellowheart (second leading contender)
Avodire ( I have a nice set of this and is similar, but not a match)
Aformosia (now my leading contender)
Obeche (I have some of this and it is not a good match)
Primavera
Anigere ( I have a nice set of this and is similar, but not a match)
Chakte Vita

I have had this for at least 20 years and finally getting around to ID it...
Author:  windsurfer [ Sun May 08, 2022 10:30 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Wood ID needed
Carey wrote:
That looks like some wood I was given called "Ayan", I think. The piece I had was not very stable, but I made a plane body with it that worked out OK. Hard and heavy, but squirrely (if it's the same stuff).

Adding: I think that the piece I had was of South American origin, and it had quite a distinctive scent.
I gave the plane away so I can't give it a re-sniff, though. ;)


I think this is the same an Movingui, very similar but not quite right.
Author:  windsurfer [ Sun May 08, 2022 10:34 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Wood ID needed
Hesh wrote:
The wet part looks like very pale African mahogany to me.


Definitely not a match for any of the Khaya or Sapele I have in the shop, although the ribbon strip figure is similar so likely from a similar climate.
Author:  dzsmith [ Sun May 08, 2022 8:17 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Wood ID needed
If you cut a piece off the end and sand the end grain, the wood database on the web might be helpful.
It looks like Mahogany to me, but there are multitudes of look-alikes.
Author:  John Arnold [ Mon May 09, 2022 4:14 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Wood ID needed
Andiroba? It is called 'royal mahogany' by the flooring industry.
Author:  CarlD [ Mon May 09, 2022 4:50 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Wood ID needed
I built two parlors from a resawn beam of ship dunnage. Looked just like your board. Smelled wonderful while milling. And JD, the 6x6 beam did ring with great sustain. Ernie, RIP, thought it looked like Afrormosia.
I sent a piece to the USDA Forest Products Lab and they identified it as PTEROCARPUS SP. CF. INDICUS or Narra. I remember that while filling with epoxy (no sealer), the epoxy seeped through the pores in areas and it did tend to split. idunno
When I look at the sample pics in the Wood-Database, I still think it looks a lot more like Afrormosia than Narra. Afrormosia is also a Pterocarpus.
My grandkids sure liked the guitars. :D
Author:  joshnothing [ Tue May 10, 2022 6:44 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Wood ID needed
Pterocarpus is one heckuva genus for luthiers. Some excellenct guitar-making species there. I do agree the grain of the board looks a lot like pterocarpus indicus, only the color is a bit off compared to the stuff I regularly use for necks - but that could be an artefact of the lighting/photo…

If there was some way to upload the smell of a freshly sawn surface, I could tell you for sure … :D
Author:  Ken Nagy [ Tue May 10, 2022 7:23 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Wood ID needed
The ribbon figure looks like some African mahogany I have, but I wouldn't call that a dense wood at all. Some quartered Padauk I have has the same figure, but darker color. It isn't really dense either, but more than mahogany. Padauk is a ptercarpus cousin.of Narra, and also smells good and rings like crazy. Pores tat go on forever, Maybe that reduces the weight?

I think Carl has it right.
Author:  surveyor [ Tue May 10, 2022 9:43 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Wood ID needed
I know this as "Solomon Island Rosewood". It actually is Pterocarpus Indicus and I know it to be from the Solomons and I think they have another nickname for it. I had a friend there in the seventies who sent it back. I built this dreadnaught out of it a couple of years ago. I filled the grain with Z-Poxy and sprayed Nitro over it. It does have a distinct smell when cut or sanded.
Image
Author:  meddlingfool [ Tue May 10, 2022 10:44 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Wood ID needed
Confident it’s not primavera…
Author:  CarlD [ Tue May 10, 2022 12:45 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Wood ID needed
Here's a pic of one of the parlors. Neck and body were the wood in question. The center strip and backstrap are Manzanita.
Attachment:
IMG_20190814_183610.jpg
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