I.D. of wood

[Razo]

Hi Everyone,

I just bought a load of mixed hardwoods last weekend to see me through the rest of the winter. Its a mix of walnut, poplar, red oak, sassafras, box elder, and a lone split of hedge. The guy claims it has been split and stacked for 2-3 years.He runs a tree-cutting business so he just splits whatever he cuts and sells it. It seems like ok wood, some of it isn't the greatest and all of it was pretty damp with surface moisture. I was in a bind though as this last storm saw all the snow harden into ice and my usual supplier informed me his piles were in-accessible.

There are quite a few splits of this in the lot and I am having a hard time identifying it. I thought it was sassafras at first but after comparing to known sassafras I have it looks slightly different.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

Ash. Good stuff....

 

[Jags]

Yep - ash.

 

[Razo]

Thanks guys! Forgot about ash, I'll add this one to my wood ID repertoire

 

[Andy S.]

Hi. My name is Andy and I am a woodaholic. I recognized the split as Ash, couldn't scroll down fast enough to see confirmation, was proud of myself when I saw it and then hoped I would be the first one to comment about the distinctive smell of Sass when I saw it mentioned. Last but not least, I hoped to be the first to caution Razo about moisture content. It is a sickness and I'm powerless over it.

 

[Razo]

Thanks for the info Andy, I'm well on my way to your obsession. I can't wait for the snow to melt so I can start harvesting some wood of my own. Luckily, I still have a small stash of well seasoned and dry beech to use while I let the latest load sit out in the sun and wind. Its just surface moisture thankfully. I have it stacked log cabin style for maximum air flow.

And yes I love the smell of sassafras, I spent all last night processing some into kindling, made the whole garage smell awesome.





These 2 pieces are almost too pretty to burn, came from a split that had a really nice dark heart.

 

[Missouri Frontier]

These 2 pieces are almost too pretty to burn

Sacrilege!

 

[Razo]

Haha don't worry I said ak most, they will meet a firey demise

 

[Richie]

Sassafras

 

[JoeyD]

My guess is chestnut oak. Though I can't say I've ever seen ash as far as I know so it could be ash.

http://woodyplants.wikidot.com/quercus-prinus

 

[nrford]

ASH

 

[Hogwildz]

The be some small splits

 

[Razo]

Yea the sassafras was cut short intententionally with kindling in mind. I like to start fires in my open hearth with a log cabin style stack and the short ones are great as cross-pieces as they don't protrude too far out towards the front of the hearth

 

[Applesister]

I think it looks like white walnut.