What wood is this? (black color)
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![[Hearth.com] What wood is this? (black color)](/talk/data/attachments/2/2259-2f5e64b3c09309cd750239aae289a568.jpg?hash=gloiiCSWLd)
wow, that is dark. First thought is walnut, butit looks even darker than that...does ebony grow around your parts? Or maye someone planted it as an ornamental tree. If it is true ebony, probably worth more as wood than for the fire.
Corey
Corey
- Dec 14, 2005
- 33
Where did you get it? My first thought is Ebony. Ive only ssen it in the wood stores in small pieces that fetch HIGH dollar for. It comes from Africa. Sticks the size of your finger go for several dollars each. Any good wood stores around you have it checked out. Might be able to buy several cords for your stump. Just my best guess. Ive never seen dark wood here other then mesquite can be somewhat dark.
Im trying to look at that round of wood but keep geting distracted by that picture on left. :roll:
Dylan said:
That's what I was thinking. I have some oak in my piles with a dark brown center. I figured the "wood guy" had the stuff at the bottom of the stack and it was wet for some time. The outer half inch or so is punky, but the inside is solid and brown.
I'm with you. This looks like a gnarley piece of wild black walnut. Something growing on a river bank, or steep slope that has affected the growth. Riverside is my first choice to add the minerals that bring the black color. The grain and irregularity of the shape could be caused by a deep wound, or a weather related split. It froze when sap was in the wood, it got blown over, another tree fell on the crotch, etc. With all the stress on the growing tree, it will be very dense and irregular grained.
If you turn wood, save it! These make great bowls. If you turn it, turn the rough green, that means now. Down to about an inch, and let it dry for a year, before finish turning. I have a roughed torrey pine bowl blank I pulled off a wood pile in Monterray, Ca. Still drying after six years. Some of the busiest burl I have ever seen.
So, don't invite me to see your wood pile. I may spend my time looking for that perfect blank. Sometimes one piece is worth a full cord.
If you turn wood, save it! These make great bowls. If you turn it, turn the rough green, that means now. Down to about an inch, and let it dry for a year, before finish turning. I have a roughed torrey pine bowl blank I pulled off a wood pile in Monterray, Ca. Still drying after six years. Some of the busiest burl I have ever seen.
So, don't invite me to see your wood pile. I may spend my time looking for that perfect blank. Sometimes one piece is worth a full cord.
MountainStoveGuy said:
My first thought was a fungal infection . . . . but it seems to evenly spread for that.
Where is a good forestry major when you need one, ahem.
Where is a good forestry major when you need one, ahem.
Yup, I'm with Black Walnut - Juglans Nigra - make a smooth cut with a razor blade or utility knife thru the end grain. Get some good light on the fresh cut and if it's Black Walnut, you will see crystals in the fibers (tracheids?). It will look like diamonds sparking.
Jake said:
You got the place right! It is from Africa - West Africa (Nigeria? don't remember now).
I bought it as a collection piece. Its Ebony, and what looks like bark there is in fact just more wood, the bark is gone completely. It feels as heavy as rock!
(I just put it in front of the fireplace for fun
)Dean
DeanB said:Jake said:
You got the place right! It is from Africa - West Africa (Nigeria? don't remember now).
I bought it as a collection piece. Its Ebony, and what looks like bark there is in fact just more wood, the bark is gone completely. It feels as heavy as rock!
(I just put it in front of the fireplace for fun
Dean
Walnut sapwood is always lighter, usually a cream color, no bark, a tight twist. Have you had a forester or wood expert confirm your piece? I once had a table to restore, couldn't figure out the wood, took a sample to a hardwood dealer, he ran his test and offered me about $40.00 per pound for the boards. Guaranteed me that it was Domingo Mahogany. The trees were extinct about 1840. Three board top on a drop leaf table came from the same board. I have been in the restoration business for 35 years and never had this wood quality. So, he certified the wood and I gave the buyer the certification and added to zeros to the purchase price.
Becaude I can not buy ebony on the open market there are woods that are offered as substitutes, without a foresters certification, I would question this as ebony.
Well, I'm no expert, but it does have the yellow outer wood, which matches what I have seen in ebony furniture. And it does weight a ton.
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