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| Author: | mesquite8 [ Sat Apr 07, 2007 3:07 am ] |
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Hi Guys I came across a couple of pieces of wood I acquired from my father-in-law's estate about 10 years ago. I had forgotten all about it. It's not labeled as to what it is so if anyone has any ideas I'd appreciate your input. The pieces are approximately 60 3/4" X 6 7/8" X .12". Thanks Dave 
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| Author: | mesquite8 [ Sat Apr 07, 2007 3:09 am ] |
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Sorry about the size of the pictures. I thought I fixed that before posting. Dave |
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| Author: | old man [ Sat Apr 07, 2007 3:13 am ] |
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I vote for black walnut. Ron |
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| Author: | JohnAbercrombie [ Sat Apr 07, 2007 5:26 am ] |
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Walnut (black) would be my guess as well. If you had a known sample for comparison, a minute with sandpaper and a good 'sniff' would identify it for sure. The odour is usually quite characteristic. Nice-looking boards. John |
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| Author: | peterm [ Sat Apr 07, 2007 6:22 am ] |
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Can you post smaller pics? I don't think its walnut... |
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| Author: | Sam Price [ Sat Apr 07, 2007 6:48 am ] |
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Looks like a type of rosewood to me. |
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| Author: | peterm [ Sat Apr 07, 2007 7:04 am ] |
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I was inclined to say Palo Escrito... |
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| Author: | mesquite8 [ Sat Apr 07, 2007 7:31 am ] |
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I do have a known piece of walnut. I did a little sanding on both pieces and the ones in question don't smell like the walnut does. Here's an attempt at posting a smaller picture. 
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| Author: | Wade Sylvester [ Sat Apr 07, 2007 7:56 am ] |
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Here is when a little smell-o-vision may help. Does it have a particular smell if you sand it a bit? The Palo Ecrito I had looks similar but it smelled a bit like olives. Walnut would have a distinct smell as well would it not? Wade |
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| Author: | TRein [ Sat Apr 07, 2007 9:07 am ] |
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My gut tells me neither Palo Escrito nor Walnut. Palo Escrito is rather limited in its distribution and it is doubtful if any boards came into the country 10 years ago. P.E. varies considerably in color, but most of it has a yellow-tan background with pink or red stripes. It is surprisingly lightweight, so if your boards are heavy, that would rule P.E. out. What you have certainly looks like a tropical wood. As you know, there are quite a few species of tropical woods, most of which never make it to the US market. Compounding the difficulty of identification is sometimes sawmill operators slip in a close cousin of the specified wood to get the numbers up. Even if you bought a packet of wood reputed to be "Balsamo" for instance, you may wind up with a few boards of another wood that looks like it, but really isn't. If I had to hazard a wild guess (which is all it could be by looking at a photo), I would say hormigo, which is a sub-species of Platymiscium. |
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| Author: | mesquite8 [ Sat Apr 07, 2007 10:41 am ] |
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Thanks for the guesses guys. It really didn't have much of an odor after sanding. It just kinda smelled dusty. One thing to note is that this has been unstickered and not weighted down for as long as I've had it and it is still very straight. I guess I'll just call it mystery wood. Dave |
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| Author: | Doug O [ Sat Apr 07, 2007 10:57 am ] |
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I have some wood that looks very similar that I bought from an exotic wood dealer last year in Boise. I have totally forgotten what it is. Old age I guess. I believe mine is a dalbergia, but have looked in all my books and can't really find a likely match. Mine has a litltle more spider web and slightly more pronounced purple shading. I'm going to get down to Gilmer's in Portland before too long and am going to take it along for them to fell me for sure. Doug |
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| Author: | Bruce Dickey [ Sat Apr 07, 2007 2:18 pm ] |
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I first thought Indian Rosewood, but we see a lot of stuff like this on Ebay and they call it Brazilian Rosewood. Most everyone that knows Brazilian says it smells sweet kinda like bubble gum. Looks pretty good, what are you gonna do with it? |
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| Author: | Don A [ Sat Apr 07, 2007 2:26 pm ] |
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My guess would be Pao Ferro (Morado) If so, be careful with the dust. |
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| Author: | Ken Franklin [ Sat Apr 07, 2007 6:13 pm ] |
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If it has no open pores my vote would be pao ferro also. Ditto on the dust precaution. |
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| Author: | mesquite8 [ Sun Apr 08, 2007 3:25 am ] |
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I'm not sure what I'll do with it. It's not wide enough for a two piece back. It has been on the shelf for 14 years. It will go back to where it was for the moment. Thanks for all the input. Dave |
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| Author: | davidO [ Sun Apr 08, 2007 3:35 am ] |
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Wow, I found some wood 2 months ago that was in the Walnut pile at a local store. When I picked it up I knew there was no way it was walnut, way too dense, fairly heavy, didn't smell like walnut. I asked the guys at the shop and they didn't know either. They told me that if I was interested to buy it that "today it is walnut". I thought it was probably a type of rosewood so I bought it (great deal). I took some photos as well planning on posting them to see if anyone knew what it was. It looks the same as what you got there. 
What do you think? |
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| Author: | mesquite8 [ Sun Apr 08, 2007 3:42 am ] |
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Hi David Yes. That appears to be the same stuff. I guess we both have some mystery wood now. Dave |
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| Author: | old man [ Sun Apr 08, 2007 4:23 am ] |
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I still think it's walnut. I've got several that look like that. Ron |
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| Author: | Roy O [ Sun Apr 08, 2007 5:05 am ] |
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[QUOTE=mesquite8] I'm not sure what I'll do with it. It's not wide enough for a two piece back. It has been on the shelf for 14 years. It will go back to where it was for the moment. Thanks for all the input. Dave[/QUOTE] That would be a good size for a baritone uke or a travel guitar the same size as a baritone uke. These small guitars have surprisingly good sound and you will have no problem carrying them onto planes and putting them in the overhead luggage compartments. The MIMF has a nice set of plans titled "Small Guitar/Baritone Ukulele". |
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| Author: | davidO [ Sun Apr 08, 2007 2:00 pm ] |
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I have lots of walnut, It's definately not walnut |
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| Author: | D.L.Huskey [ Sun Apr 08, 2007 2:20 pm ] |
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Looks like Walnut to me also. Both David's and Dave's. Dave's boards look like they may have been air dried. Really hard to tell by looking at pictures. |
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| Author: | Bobc [ Sun Apr 08, 2007 9:44 pm ] |
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Walnut would have open pores that you can't miss. Are they open pores? It looks like Pau Ferro/Morado to me. |
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| Author: | davidO [ Mon Apr 09, 2007 3:04 am ] |
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No, no open pores. It's nice to see you in the discussion Bob DavidO |
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