Help in identifying wood

Ian Miller

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3
I was given a slab of wood that is about 9' long by 21" deep by 3.25" thick from my neighbor and I thought it would be fun to restore the wood and make a workbench out of it. I sent an email to a few of my family and friends asking if they knew what kind of wood I was given. A few thought it was Oak, my father disagrees, however does not know what it is. I asked a wood smith and he agreed it is definitely not oak, maybe a maple or pine. Can anyone help identify this slab of wood?

Attached are two additional photos that I'm hoping to use as a guide in creating my table legs. I'm playing with the idea of doing four table legs but using the same concept. The only downfall I can see is the horizontal support beams might get in the way when sitting on a bench. Anyone have any recommendations or thoughts?

Thanks!
 

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I'm with Bob. It looks like maple to me.

The trestle design you show is a time-honored, and solid one. Wedged tenons on the stretcher will keep it tight and solid for many generations to come. If you put the stretcher about halfway up, it might be an occasional knee-banger when seated, but most folks won't scoot their chair that far under the table for it to be a problem.
 
what is it coated with? take a plane and scuff off some of the coating in the heart wood area or your sander.. the sap wood looks like it could be cherry but not brown enough for the age of it, and i havnt seen maple turn red??
 
How heavy is it? If it takes 3 men and a boy to lift it it's probably maple. If it's light it's pine. The knots do look like pine, but the scraped edge looks like maple or possibly cherry.

I think it's got finish on it. That's way it looks reddish :dunno:
 
well if its finished then i go to pine too but the knot pattern isnt close enough for the pine we have, every 20" up the tree is a knot unless its really old growth
 
Ian post where you live it may be that this is some more regonal wood rather than wood from our back door. I agree it looks like a hardwood but the knots speak of pine. I can't tell for sure unlesswe know more. Nice piece of wood though.

Larry as to it being hemlock well it's got the knots like that but I've yet to see any of the wood come that dark. I would doubt it is that. Hemlock is a bit softer than pine in my opinion and it clearly looks much harder to me. That's my thoughts.
 
Thanks for the replies!

I took most of today and sanded down the slab. I had to cut off about three feet because it was warped rather badly. I've sanded starting with 80 grain and worked my way to 180 grain. I do believe the slab is pine, please see attached. to show.jpg

I live in Southern California. The neighbor whom i received it from doesn't now anything about it either. He said for all he knows it could have come from Mexico.

Anyway, I'm thinking about staining it with Special Walnut (Minwax) followed by a poly in satin.
 
looks like pine now and you should be able to smell it like a turpitine smell, also before you stain it be sure to use a sealer pine WILL blotch badly sometimes.
 
Thanks Bob! Sadly, I've never thought about reusing the 3' section.

I've been searching the net and have come up with a few new thoughts for the next step in my project. Uploaded are my newest thoughts. This is a workbench with will be used primarily in the garage so functionality, strength and comfort while sitting at a chair or bench is key. If I were to follow the first image, the two vertical posts would be 3x6 and I would be able to use the same type of wood for everything but the feet. If I were to follow the second image, the vertical posts would be 3x4, however, the horizontal pieces would be of different wood.

What are your thoughts? advice? etc

Thanks!
 

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It looks to me like it is a hunk of Pine. Like someone else says check out some things about the weight. If you plane the finish off a bit the odor of pine is pretty distinct. Is there any evidence of resin on or around the knots? That would also be a good way to either confirm or rule out pine.
 
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