Identify this wood

[Dean Center]

I needed to make a knob for the top of a canister and decided to use something out of a box of scraps my son had been given by a friend. It's mostly exotic woods that I recognize (padauk, purpleheart, lacewood, etc). I decided on a 1" 'spindle blank' of walnut, mounted between centers and started to turn. Instead of the expected spicy/cinnamon aroma, there was immediately the strong smell of camphor. The knob came out fine and in the process I learned that this mystery wood is a little heavier than walnut, a little harder, and a little less open in the grain. The wood burnished to a high shine just shear cutting with my skew. Afterwards, I grabbed a walnut board that was handy and put the two woods next to each other and they just look identical.

Anyone know what this wood is? Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[hockenbery]

It might be camphor.

We have a lot of it here in central Florida.
It has a lot of color variation. Gray, red, off white.
Camphor is a bout the density of walnut.

Camphor does smell like camphor

Al

 

[Owen Lowe]

http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/camphor/#pics

I am surprised at how similar camphor looks to walnut.

 

[hockenbery]

Dean,
Thought of you when I was cutting some camphor a couple days ago.

Saw this limb that I thought would be great for a natural edge edge bowl.
Dark heartwood and great sap ring. It does have a walnut look.

The larger piece is camphor too and more of what is usual.
This particular tree had some nice red heartwood too.

Al