finally found out what my mystery wood is

allen levine

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new york city burbs
after having the lumber in the rack, and used it for mainly raised panels because of its unique coloring, I brought a planed piece of it today to the metro area's largest and oldest lumber dealer.
The dealer stocks every dimension and every species Ive ever heard of.
The boss came walking over when I was showing it to a few of the salesmen, and he said he knows what it is, touched it, and said, yep, actually very desirable.

Its total sapwood walnut with the coloring running throughout it. I questioned him and he said, no doubt, its not poplar as I thought it was.

heres a pic of a flat panel I used it for, unfinished. The color really jumps with oil and its smooth as silk.
 

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Hi Allen
Looking at the photo, I would have guessed Butternut, which is also called White Walnut. Very similar in weight, texture and working property as Black Walnut, just without the color of Black Walnut.
 
allen send me a small piece of it,, my cost.. i cant convince myself he is right from the pictures.. and here is one main reason why.. when they cut walnut they almost always try to avoid sap wood as much as they can and then to get the board widths you have shown us in just sap wood is practically impossible from what the walnut i have had cut would provide.. even that large crotch tree i had would give you that much sap wood... and i do agree with mike that it could be butternut ,, there again once i had it in my hands i could tell that as well i have some for comparison..
 
Id like to send you the 5 foot piece of 6/4 chestnut Im holding for you, so maybe over the next 2 weeks Ill get my hands on some cardboard and wrap it and send you a piece with the chestnut.(I looked for the chestnut the other day and couldnt find it, so Ill need to move alot of wood around, just give me some time and Ill send you a sample of the mystery wood)
 
I picked up 152 bf of cherry today. I couldnt wait anymore. I made the first reface frames and doors for the uppers for around my sons microwave and I realized Im going to need alot more cherry to do all those doors.
You were too scaredy cat to drive out here during your last trip, so I paid 4.60 a bf, not bad I figured. (although anytime you might come east, Id love to get my hands on some walnut again)
 
i wanted to allen but i only had so much time i thought, now if i could get enough of an order to make the trip worth while then perhaps we could find our way there:) but my gas money is in short supply now:)
 
not on Long Island Karl. There are no hardwood dealers here at all. (at least none that sell rough lumber at any decent price)
Rents and taxes have driven them all away.
I also feel the need for rough lumber has basically vanished as far as the lumber yards are concerned since Id estimate only 5% of the kitchen guys actually make and frame their own cabinets.(and the quantity they purchase, they can afford to have it shipped from another state passing the cost along to the customer)
The guy who installed my kitchen said he was paying 40 thousand a year in taxes(county and school) to have a small shop to make custom kitchens. Add on insurances, gas, electric, maintainence, its just so much easier to order cabinets from a cabinet shop in Canada or North Carolina that doesnt pay these ridiculous taxes.
Guess the lumber yards felt the same way.
I notice in the local yards, the contractors want 4/4 all 4 sides finished, and they just want to cut and install a piece here and there, so the yards charge a fortune by linear foot.
 
One of the wonderful (and sometimes frustrating) things about black walnut is the variation. Here's some variations from batches I picked on purpose (future use as yet unknown ;)). The 'different' figure is fun to use as Allen has done with his panels. The wilder stuff makes great accents on smaller pieces.

frame-D-D-h.jpg

The more "normal" cousins can be seen in contrast standing behind.

Walnut Light.jpg
 
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well folks, i am not a professor of woods but i can tell you i know what walnut looks like and this is definitely not walnut, i think its a type of maple its fairly heavy and doesnt dent easily with thumb nail, and the piece he sent me doesnt have any characteristics of walnut or butternut.. the grain is tight and doesnt show any openness like walnut does on the surface.. i have taken some cloe up pics to see if someone can get a better look and tell us what we have here.. it sure is pretty though..mystery wood 003.jpgmystery wood 001.jpgmystery wood 002.jpg
 
I have seen maple that looked just like that. But I have also seen red birch look just like that.
There does that help.:thumb:
 
I dug through the stack and couldnt find a piece that had any bark left on it, as some of the older pieces I planed did.
Im going back to the lumber yard to get some prefinished maple/or birch ply, wonder if I should mention to the boss he gave me bogus info.(I like the guy, maybe I just wont say anything to him)

btw, I have silver maple, and it has nice coloring, but it doesnt have that beige overall coloring.
and when I machine this stuff, it runs through the jointer and planer so nice, comes out so smooth almost feels like it doesnt need to be sanded. Its a pleasure to work with.

and Id like to mention one more time, when I purchased it for almost nothing, the guy told me he had purchased it years before for a special job, and he believed it was some species from central or south america, claims he paid(the client paid) top dollar for it. I was just in the right place at the right time.(I paid around 85 cents a bf, so whatever it is, I made out ok)
and now I recall, he said it was some type of sapwood of some rosewood family.

one more note, (Im a moderator, I hope Im not breaking a rule here), on the lumberjock site, there are pictures of an outdoor table set made with rosewood sapwood, and it looks very similar to the mystery wood.
 
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if what you sent me was just planed and not sanded allen ,,your right that was a great finish for planing like it was sanded to 120 or 150 already ,, i even looked for sanding marks thinking you had sanded it.. i took and flattened the back of it and it came out clean as well..i know it sure is purty stuff:)
 
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