What kind of wood is this?

[odie]

I purchased this piece of wood sight unseen from Woodcraft several years ago, and initially it was labeled as Bubinga. I don't think it's Bubinga.......so, what is it?

-----odie-----

 

[Tim Tucker]

I would call it beautiful wood Odie. But I have seen forms of Ebony that look like this....?

 

[odie]

From the current Woodcraft site, I see this stock photo, and another that looks similar on the Wood Database online:

I also have two books on wood identification by Eric Meier and Terry Porter, and my conclusion is this is probably Cocobolo.

-----odie-----

 

[Greg Norman]

That’s definitely Cocobolo and an exceptionally nice piece of it too. Very nicely turned! I love the crisp details.

 

[robo hippy]

Hmm, given the open pores on this wood, I would guess padouk or how ever you spell it.... Cocobolo is more closed grain. Found it, Padauk wood...

robo hippy

 

[Mike Adams]

@robo hippy,

Reed, how are you holding that piece? I've never seen that before.

 

[Charlie Knighton]

looks like waste block? ash?

 

[Steven Wright]

Very pretty is what it is.

 

[Owen Lowe]

+ another vote for cocobolo

(I've not seen padauk with such dark stripes.)

 

[Bill Boehme]

Honduran Rosewood?

 

[Greg Norman]

The growth rings are a good indicator. Padauk and Honduran Rosewood grow in a wet tropical environment so the summer wood is always dominate and well defined. It’s normally two or three times bigger than the spring wood. Cocobolo grows in a dry upland savanna and the spring wood is bigger than or equal to the summer wood most years . It grows very slowly and the growth rings are subtle to barely visible.
There are more pores (spring vessels) in Padauk but as the photos (wood-database.com) show not many more
Padauk will fluoresce a faint yellow orange under a black light. Cocobolo is nonreactive.
If you cut that on the bandsaw before turning and the scraps haven’t been disposed of put one in a pail of water, Padauk will float, Cocobolo will sink.


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