Any idea what kind of wood this is? It’s the lid of a baby grand piano, of Continental European origin, build in the 1880s, most likely stained. Can you help me identify this wood? It varies in colour from dark brown to red and occasionally has a spotted effect. Birch Trees. I thought it looked a little like honey locust but the grain seemed to be different. My guess is a cherry veneer. The heartwood is marketed in veneer form as Tineo. Over the years, I began fielding questions from a more diverse audience worldwide including wood workers, carpenters, sawmill managers, historical societies, and archeologists. Before proceeding too much farther into the remaining steps, it’s first necessary to confirm that the material in question is actually a solid piece of wood, and not a man-made composite or piece of plastic made to imitate wood. www.cookwoods.com, EXOTIC WOOD: BORNEO EBONY Borneo Ebony is a Diospyros sp. Manufactured wood such as MDF, OSB, and particleboard all have a distinct look that is—in nearly all cases—easily distinguishable from the endgrain of real wood. Some questions to immediately ask yourself: Is the color of the wood natural, or is … Also, it appears to be veneered, so weight should be irrelevant since it is only of the underlying substrate and not of the wood veneer in question. OEN is a shop selling craft and design goods from all over the world. Common Uses. You can mail your physical wood samples to the Center for Wood Anatomy Research. Many thanks! For this reason, I decided to revise and expand this site. Types of Trees With Pictures and Identifying Features. It has been designed to serve both the amateur and experienced person in identifying unknown wood specimens. Ask yourself these questions: Most softwoods will be almost perfectly smooth with no grain indentations, while many common hardwoods have an open pore structure, such as oak or mahogany; though there are some hardwoods that are also smooth to the touch, such as maple. Here is a selection of woods used on antique furniture, below is a comprehensive guide into the woods and history behind each type of timber used throughout the centuries. In most instances, 10x magnification is ideal, however, anything within the range of 8 to 15x magnification should be suitable for endgrain viewing. While certain woods can appear basically identical to one another under normal lighting conditions, when exposed to certain wavelengths—such as those found in blacklights—the wood will absorb and emit light in a different (visible) wavelength. In such cases, a very thin layer of real wood is peeled from a tree and attached to a substrate; sometimes the veneer can be one continuous repeating piece because it is rotary-sliced to shave off the veneer layer as the tree trunk is spun by machines. If you see a large panel that has a repeating grain pattern, it may be a veneer. Hi Eric, this timber has come from an old building on the docks of the Wirral. For instance, rosewoods (Dalbergia spp.) (Standard magnifying glasses are typically in the range of 2 to 4x magnification.). Can cause extensive damage in construction-ready timber if left unchecked. Additionally, you can always try the “fingernail test” as a rough hardness indicator: find a crisp edge of the wood, and with your fingernail try to push in as hard as you can and see if you’re able to make a dent in the wood. are also noted for their readily leachable heartwood extractives. Try gouging the edge with your fingernail to get a sense of its hardness. Heartwood colors are strikingly beautiful with a bluish black variegated stripe through pinkish red. Explore {{searchView.params.phrase}} by … I’ve sanded the finish a bit on one of the shelves. The following techniques and recommendations don’t necessarily have a wide application in initially sorting out wood species and eliminating large swaths of wood species, but will most likely be of use only as a final step in special identification circumstances. Scroll through the pictures and click on a piece of wood that looks familiar to access more information about the wood. Left is a softwood of some sort, based on its weight, probably a species of southern yellow pine. The fact that it’s a veneer suggests something like lacewood or silky oak. Is it heavier than oak? Be sure to order a … As with the wood’s source, its age will also help in identification purposes. This is the third edition of this site containing nearly twice as many species, higher resolution imagery and more in-depth descriptions of each species. https://www.graindesigns.com/your-wood-identification-guide-common-woods If the wood came from a builder of antique furniture, or a boat-builder, or a trim carpenter: each of these occupations will tend to use certain species of woods much more often than others, making a logical guess much simpler. This is very much still a one-man operation, and comments and other contact is still answered personally. House was tore down in Lancaster PA. See article of Common US Hardwoods to help find the most commonly used woods. White oak (and English oak) were used in antiques more commonly than red oak. For instance, if you see a large panel or section of wood that’s entirely black, chances are it’s either painted, dyed, or stained: Gaboon ebony and related species are typically very small and very expensive. Two of the most useful are the tests that are meant to separate Red and White Oak, and Red and Hard Maple. Check out the amazing flame…”, A little over a year ago I had eight sweet gum trees taken down on my property as they were a little to close to my home for comfort. For instance, on their quartersawn surfaces, lacewood has large lace patterns, oak has flecks, and maple has the characteristic “butcher block” appearance. I have china cabinet that I would like to refinish, but want to know what wood it’s made out of first. See the article Fluorescence: A Secret Weapon in Wood Identification for more information. If the wood is unfinished, then look at the texture of the grain. Not only will it help to determine if the wood should have developed a natural patina, but it will also suggest certain species which were more prevalent at different times in history. If it’s possible, pick the piece of wood up and get a sense of its weight, and compare it to other known wood species. Likewise, wood that has been stored in extremely dry conditions of less than 25% relative humidity will most likely feel lighter than average. Color. If I had to take a guess, I might say something like karri. When attempting to identify a wood sample, it’s important to keep in mind the limitations and obstacles that are present in our task. Bow Woods (from a mathematical perspective), Brazilian Rosewood, East Indian, and Other Rosewoods, Genuine Lignum Vitae and Argentine Lignum Vitae, BOOK: WOOD! See more ideas about Wood, Types of wood, Exotic woods. A tabletop made of pine will have much deeper dents than a tabletop made of Oak. Hello and Thank You so much for the insight. There are only a small number of chemical tests regularly used on wood, most of which are very specialized and were developed to help distinguish easily confused species with one another.