Wood Identification

[Hal]

I bought a piece of wood a while back, but I could not remember what it was. I was sawing it today to turn some of it, and was surprised to see it was bright yellow. like sulfur yellow. The included pictures will probably not do it justice (I'm obviously not a photographer), but perhaps they will be good enough so someone can tell me what I've got.

 

[Richard Baker]

Used to have some "satin wood" with nice yellow color when fresh, but maybe lighter color than yours. After some years the color becomes almost identical to maple of the same age. What about "canary wood" you all? Or "yellowheart"? Know the names but have never seen the wood.

 

[John Van Domelen]

Tiny pics - hard to tell. 😉

If it is domestic - my guess would be Mulberry or Bodark (Osage Orange) - if imported Yellowheart.

Cheers!

-- John

 

[GeorgeH]

Drop a piece in a pan of water. If it doesn't float, it's Iron Wood. If it has a straight grain, it could be Osage Orange or Yellowheart. "Yellow Wood" is actually a yellow/brown color, not bright yellow. The sap wood of yellow birch can be yellow, but the heart wood tends toward reddish brown. Of course, there's also Southern Yellow Pine - but you'd recognize that by the coarse grain pattern. And, as Jovan said, it could be Mulberry.

 

[Richard Baker]

It does not look like the Osage Orange (Bois d'Arc) that I have on hand, which has a lot of dark streaks mixed with the yellow. And/but mine is from a small tree, maybe 8"-10" max. dia. Assume a large tree could have larger volumes of solid yellow wood.

 

[George Guadiane]

Drop a piece in a pan of water. If it doesn't float, it's Iron Wood. If it has a straight grain, it could be Osage Orange or Yellowheart. "Yellow Wood" is actually a yellow/brown color, not bright yellow. The sap wood of yellow birch can be yellow, but the heart wood tends toward reddish brown. Of course, there's also Southern Yellow Pine - but you'd recognize that by the coarse grain pattern. And, as Jovan said, it could be Mulberry.

Don't forget black locust, I have a crotch piece that is QUITE yellow... It should be done in a day or two.

 

[Jim Keenan]

Do you have access to Royal Ponciana? I have a few pieces that are quite yellow.

 

[Hal]

I need to give a little more information. I bought the wood at the Southern States Symposium held in Georgia. I don't usually buy wood so I know I didn't pay much for it so it's probably local (to Georgia) wood. It was probably a fairly big tree - this was a slab about 16 inches across...and it's not yellow pine.

Thanks for the help.

 

[robo hippy]

There is actually an American Yellow wood Tree. More common in the eastern part of the US. Black locust tends to be greenish yellow.
robo hippy

 

[George Guadiane]

There is actually an American Yellow wood Tree. More common in the eastern part of the US. Black locust tends to be greenish yellow.
robo hippy

I am unaware of this American Yellow wood tree, I would like more information if you have any.
While I agree that Black Locust does tend to have a greenish caste, the piece I am going to picture soon is almost lemon yellow. It's the crotch area, so that could have something to do with it, but the color is there. And as with almost all wood, colors vary from tree to tree, and from one area to another in the same tree. One of the reasons that I ventured with that guess was the sap wood (I think)... If the pictures were bigger, I might be better able to tell. It LOOKS like black locust and/or osage orange/mulberry sap wood, and all of them have a similar open grain. I think that all of those trees grow in the mid-South too, but at a symposium, the wood could have been brought in from almost anywhere.

 

[dkulze]

Just glancing at that bark, I'd say it's locust. Mulberry has relatively fine surfaced bark and I'm pretty sure osage does too (not local so someone correct me). That large cross-hatch bark is standard for locust and it can be quite yellow, especially when freshly cut.

Dietrich

 

[Barbara Gill]

The Red Mulberry I have sawn is that color. The pictures are too small to really see anything. Mulberry will start darkening almost right away ending up a chocolate brown.

 

[robo hippy]

I don't have the specifics on the tree, but it was in my tree book, and I imagine that you can google it.
robo hippy

 

[Eric]

AAW Resources may have the answer

Have you tried the AAW Resources page - Tree Identification Sources ?? I have found the Resources page very helpful in the past.

Cheers