Help me identify this wood.?.?

[JessRey]

A buddy of mine gave me a busted up Kneeler he was throwing out that had been in his family all his life (so it's old wood, at least 60yrs +, the wood even smelled old when I planed it down). It had some 2" this sides and enough to get a body out of, but I'm not really sure what I have. I'm leaning towards Pine (White?)the fact that the guide bearings on my bit slightly dented it on a scrap piece, but due to the grain I want to say Ash. I'm really not sure though so I wanted to put it here and see what your guys think. Either way I'm excited about it. It's old and who knows how many people got down and prayed on it. Hopefully it'll pass on good vibes. Thanks for your help.

[guitarbuilder]

The upper left side reminds me of some soft maple and the right side looks like black ash, but it looksnice... it is almost as dark as walnut or the willow I've been using lately. Is it smooth or open pored?

[JessRey]

They all appear to be the same type. The left piece has more grain showing on the other side that is identical to the center piece. The right piece is the same, it was just over 1.75 so I just sanded the finish off of it. The other two pieces were a hair over 2" so they went through the planer hence the darker appearance of the right side piece. It seems open pored. I've only built with Poplar and Alder so closed grain is all I've messed with.

[Colt W. Knight]

Can you snap some better pics? One with some end grain?

[jonson]

You want to say Ash because of the grain but don't rule out Catalpa.

[JessRey]

Colt, I'm at work and will take some more when I get home. Any others that would be helpful besides some end grain?

[Colt W. Knight]

Yeah, when you take some pics, you want the true color to show through. Also, try to capture with some detail the actual grain of the wood, both end grain, and the top and back of the blank.

You can host your photos on photobucket. Then post them from there. If you don't want an account, you can email me the pics, and I can host them for you. The pictures will show up a lot better that way.

Without some good photos though, its just a WAG. But I am certain we can nail it down with some good pics pretty easily.

If its an open pored wood its not pine. Just because its soft, doesn't mean its not a hardwood. It could be cut from the sap wood or have rotted over the years.

If it came from the Austin area, it could be Live Oak.

[CapnCrunch]

I'd bet a fair bit of money that it is not pine, or any conifer for that matter. Higher res. pics will help.

[robt57]

Chestnut ?

[TeleLover223]

[JessRey]

All, sorry I didn't get these up yesterday. I had computer issues and threw in the towel for the day. Here is the link to Photobucket http://s1101.photobucket.com/albums/.../PraiseCaster/

[Berndizzle440]

looks like some maple to me OR maybe alder but i'm leaning more towards maple :)

[CapnCrunch]

It looks an awful lot like Cherry to me. I wish I could smell it

[camatillo]

I think maple is the winner. It would be strong enough for a kneeler, whereas pine or alder probably not. Ash or chestnut would be a good guess too but the grain is not open so I vote maple.

[benderb9]

ahhhhh he said wood....yeah yeah wood eeeeeehhhhhh

[Colt W. Knight]

You can take an off cut, and hold if up against a belt sander or grinder. If its maple, it should turn brown and have a sugary or carmel smell.

[crazydave911]

If it's somewhat light, my vote is for cottonwood

[njg12171]

In the photobucket pics, looks a lot like the cherry i have in my shop, little too red for maple to me

[Mojotron]

Originally Posted by Colt W. Knight

You can take an off cut, and hold if up against a belt sander or grinder. If its maple, it should turn brown and have a sugary or carmel smell.

Hmm, ya I suppose that's what I would do: Cherry will burn in a similar way though and soft Maple can look and weigh the same as Cherry (depending on the cut and how much sap-wood there is) - Maple smells more like pancake syrup - Cherry smells more like a burnt pie with Colt's experiment. If it burns then we are close I think, if not - given the age, do you know if it is thought to be a wood from the region?

I would say that soft Maple and Cherry are virtually the same wood with respect to making instruments with the exception of the dark portions of the Cherry and the mineral streaks in soft Maple in some pieces. Both are great for making fat necks and/or body tops; whole bodies may need to be lightened up a little as the wood is a little on the heavier side - by today's wimpy player's standards. Real men will take the stage with a 20 pound axe!

[JessRey]

Thanks guys! The saga contiues I guess. I'm gonna go burn some on my grinder when I get home and I'll let you know if it's Mom's Pancakes or me trying to bake a pie. I will say that I have an Alder blank glued up and they are pretty comperable if the Alder isn't a tad heavier.