What is this?

[Jay106n]

Got a few of these, the bigger ones are hard as hell and my maul bounces right off the top! Thanks.

 

[Jags]

Bark screams something from the "pine" family.

 

[Stinkpickle]

Kinda scaly like black cherry.

 

[billb3]

the bark looks like white oak/cherry but the inside looks more like hickory.

If I had to put up a dollar I'd go with some kind of cherry.
But I wouldn't be surprised if I lost that dollar.

 

[KenLockett]

walnut?

 

[Jay106n]

I was thinking it was a cherry or a red oak, but i dont know jack about wood types

 

[claydogg84]

Can you take a close up of a clean end grain? I'm also leaning towards pine.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

I'm wondering if it could be Dogwood?

 

[KenLockett]

maybe Larch come to think of it?

 

[tigeroak]

Cherry

 

[ckitch]

I'm gonna say either cherry or some kind of apple, but the dark towards the outside is throwing me off. How it smell's should be helpfull

 

[baseroom]

Black Cherry

 

[Jon_E]

I dunno but I'm pretty sure that one in the back of the first photo is a rock.

Oh, the wood. Possible it could be larch, but the bark is too gray. Not apple, the grain isn't right. Definitely not cherry.

Horse chestnut, maybe? Bark looks close. Not sure about the wood though.

 

[rideau]

That piece of wood lying on its side to the left in the first picture is absolutely classic ironwood, which is indeed very difficult to split. Even split with a splitter, the heart likes to stay together and you usually have to pry it apart, or hit it with a sledge to break the fibers. And if you get one that has grown with a twisted trunk, have fun!

Does the tree have small twisty branches at the top?

 

[Stinkpickle]

That piece of wood lying on its side to the left in the first picture is absolutely classic ironwood, which is indeed very difficult to split. Even split with a splitter, the heart likes to stay together and you usually have to pry it apart, or hit it with a sledge to break the fibers. And if you get one that has grown with a twisted trunk, have fun!

Does the tree have small twisty branches at the top?

Good call. I looked up some ironwood bark, and it appears to be a match.

 

[Jay106n]

There is a larger round of this same wood in the pile that I took 4 whacks at and it just bounced off. I set it aside. I will take more photos in the morning.

 

[Jags]

There is a larger round of this same wood in the pile that I took 4 whacks at and it just bounced off. I set it aside. I will take more photos in the morning.

And give it a quick sniff. Cherry is easily identifiable by the smell of a fresh split.

 

[Jay106n]

Good morning. The logs came from a tree dump so I have no idea what it could be. My guess is it was grown somewhere in southwest CT or Tri-State area. The wood is not sappy nor does it smell piney. Not sure what it smells like. I'm just getting going for the day, I have not split any yet.

Heres some more wood for ya

 

[claydogg84]

It's hard to see if their are Rays, but I believe it's White Oak from those pictures.

 

[Jay106n]

What is a "ray"

 

[Jags]

What is a "ray"

medullary rays - the squigly lines going against the grain in this pic.

 

[Jay106n]

medullary rays - the squigly lines going against the grain in this pic.

View attachment 157423

No I have not seen anything like that

 

[Jags]

No I have not seen anything like that

Full disclosure - I choose a picture that had very pronounced lines for easy identification (show and tell, if you will). Many/most will NOT be quite that visible or large.

 

[claydogg84]

No I have not seen anything like that

The problem is the cut isn't clean, and the wood isn't all that clean either. The bark does look like an older White Oak in my opinion and would like to see more pictures of that big piece split.

 

[CountryBoy19]

What is a "ray"

Jags didn't really give you a good picture (IMHO) for identifying a piece of firewood. You want end-grain pictures
Closeup of rays: growth rings are the vertical lines, medullary rays are the horizontal lines. These rays are VERY distinct and visible in oak, not so much in all other species.
(broken image removed)
Further out picture: you can faintly see the rays going from center of growth rings out to bark