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That's for real because I do not know the answer, it was sold to me as
"Goldwood", and gold it is in color, a deep yellow darker than in the pic. I
took my chances, I realy like the way it looks in spite (or because of) the
defects. It's also very light and stiff. Any idea, botanic name, place of origin?

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

Looks a little like a girl I knew, Lu Ann.

Luan is a type of mahogany. Got a set of sides?

Luan is most emphatically not a 'type of mahogany', although it's often mislabled Phillipine mahogany. It bears a very vague resemblance to it (well, some of it), but I don't believe it's even in the same family as the Swetinias and the African Mahoganies (Khaya, Sipo, Sapele).

Meranti and/or Luan is kind of a collective name for various Shorea species. Kinda splinters easily, not the strongest of woods, but is used quite extensively in cheap asian guitars (emphasis on CHEAP). I'm not wild about the stuff, never met a piece at a lumber yard that made me go 'yeah, go on, try me out'.

Dickey, that bottom part looks familiar...where did you meet YOUR Lu Ann?

laurent, my research books list two spieces traded under the name "Gold Wood" Common name Vinhatico, species Plathymenia reticula from Tropical America. Also called Brazilian or Yellow mahogany., Orange yellow, variegated streaks, fairly light weight, soft, tough and strong for it's weight. Stable. Species Enterolbium ellipticum or Pithecolobium vinhatico. Common names Gold Wood, Tatare and Yellow Wood. yellow to bright orange, variegated, lustrous, smooth, darkens with exposure...Google might show something up under these names.

Mattia, "Phillipine mahogany" is an accurate trade name that's been used for at least a century. The name is used the same way (of course) that African Rosewood and Bolivian rosewood are used, but are not rosewoods. Lauan shouldn't be confused with all Meranties. Some red meranties are very dense, strong and beautifully ribbon striped. Think Cris-Craft boats of old days. I've sourced some red meratnti for owners restoring some of these old glorious crafts.

Larry Davis38737.8921296296

Okay Mattia, you jumped all over my "guess", but I noticed you didn't make one yourself. Congratulations, excuse me while I go carry out the trash.

Larry, my Lu Ann, I met here in high school. She's the sweetest gal you'd ever care to meet. She hooked up with a cool cat who teaches at the local college. He is one of the most enthusiastic college professors you'll ever meet. His name is Andy. Toots a sousaphone.

Andy has an interesting hobby, he does old world printing with a press. Guess who is making my guitar labels on acid free paper. Yep, Andy.

Larry: I was under the impression that Luan was one of the Shoreas, like Meranti, and that various different species are often labled the same, although there are pretty significant differences between them. I regularly see 'meranti' plywood here that looks quite a bit like the above. Might be slightly different usage in different bits of the world. I know 'Phillipine Mahogany' is a well-used trade name, but that doesn't mean I like it, or that it's much of a mahogany, which was what I was (clumsily) trying to say. I also don't like calling Bubinga 'African Rosewood', f'rinstance

Bruce: I was only pointing out that Phillipine Mahogany and/or Luan ain't a mahogany, so if you want a mahogany, y'know, look elsewhere. I really have no clue as to what it is, but it might well be your highschool friend Lu Ann. Or possibly one of her sisters.

Mattia, Meranti and Lauan belong to the Shorea genus, but as I pointed out working properties are not the same. Meranti is selected, graded and marketed by color and an be very strong and dense. Selected Meranti could make very good instrumens. Think of all Acers not being the same or all Dalbergias being not the same

Wow you guys are impressive with your knowledge of exotic woods, when i studied forestry 19 years ago, we only learned the names ot north american soft and hard woods, you must have access to really good books on botanics!

Laurent, i have no clue of what your wood is but i have a cousin of mine who might be able to identity it, i saved the picture and will try to fw it to him, i'll let you know if anything comes up!

I'd love this kind of wood for mandolin building though!

SergeSerge Poirier38738.3541898148

Thanks guys for the input. No it's not luan… It is really deep yellow in color.
Might be vinhatico, or angiko, but I couldn't find any pic on Google that
matches what I have. It doesn't seem to oxydize though, stays yellow pretty
much. And yes I have a set of sides with it.

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

A pic of the sides would give more wood to identify.

[QUOTE=Larry Davis] Mattia, Meranti and Lauan belong to the Shorea genus, but as I pointed out working properties are not the same. Meranti is selected, graded and marketed by color and an be very strong and dense. Selected Meranti could make very good instrumens. Think of all Acers not being the same or all Dalbergias being not the same[/QUOTE]

Touche. Good point.

I haven't seen a piece that particularly spoke to me (it might be strong, but it is also pretty darn heavy and slightly more split-prone than mahoganies). Mostly, I just don't think of it as a 'mahogany'. It's...meranti. More different to true mahoganies than the african varieties are (even though they, can vary quite a bit).

Laurent: you checked out this site?

http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/Mattia Valente38738.4305208333

Mattia,
That Hobbit House Link is great. What a wonderful resource this guy provides us.

Here's a pic of what some of you identified as being Meranti if it could help differentiate with Laurent's wood, but though being aware that meranti seems to belong to a wide family, this one is from Indonesia.Hope it helps

Probably right off the mark here but I'll have a stab, Monterey Cyprus (Cupressus macrocarpa)????

Cheers

[QUOTE=Serge Poirier] Wow you guys are impressive with your knowledge of exotic woods, when i studied forestry 19 years ago, we only learned the names ot north american soft and hard woods, you must have access to really good books on botanics! Serge[/QUOTE]

Serge, Silviculture was pretty much it when I went to school, too. I didn't get interested in figured and exotics until the bottom fell out of the timber industry here some years back. I was given a curly maple log and when I cut into it it had these awful black lines all thru it. I was really dissapointed that it might ruin the value of the wood. I bought a sawmill for that log after a bit of education from a friend on what the awful black lines were and never looked back...I was hooked. I got lucky and sold my last stand of export timber two months before the Asian market crashed. Because wood is my biz (and life now) ever learning is a part of it. I've learned not to attempt remembering everything so a full research library is essential...and fun. After a certain degree of research and experience one can know the incorrrect info copied from websites and pick out typos in Hoadley's books. Just takes time and interest. The real key is knowing how to find answers, not just what's in one's head.Larry Davis38738.6340046296

You're right Larry, i kinda thought about that after i posted this morning even though a few persons are able to identify without a search but they really are a few of them, just looking at a plank while others are able to identify by the silhouette of the tree or contour of a leaf...

I guess i'll get better with time !

Thanks

SergeSerge Poirier38738.7611805556

Well, Laurent, the picture isn't that great (and please take no offense, it looks somewhat like a pic I could have taken), thus it's a bit difficult to see the details. I'll take a wild guess though: looks a bit like Canarywood to me. At least from here in Texas.

SK

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

That's what it looks like from Arkansas, too. Of course, that picture of Serge's wood looks like some red oak that I have.

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......