A wood with a strange smell?

[Ken Fitzgerald]

A friend asked me to turn some bottle stoppers for him. I had a multipack from CSUSA and the identifying document was missing from the box. Couple that with the fact that some of the wood didn't have an identifying number on it, I don't know what I am turning but...... I swear it smells like dill pickles. When my wife returns home from the grocery store, I am going to get her opinion.



On another couple notes, it's been interesting relearning on sharpening turning tools. I have stayed away from my lathe too long. This week I have turned 8 bottle stoppers and plan on getting a few more done and then offering my friend a choice. I will post photos before I ship them out to him.


This week we have had contractors coming into the house. We are going to replace all the windows in the house. They are 30 years old, leaking between the double panes and some are starting to get drafty. One of the window contractors asked to see my shop. He is repairing a jewelry box for his mother and asked if I could turn a spindle that he broke.

[Reed Gray]

Well, I had some butternut once and the ex said it smelled like vinegar, which makes me think of dill pickles, but probably not what you have....

robo hippy

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Reed.....this was an exotic......I think I have narrowed down to zebrawood.

BTW...my wife agreed it smelled like dill pickles.....interesting!

[Lee Reep]

My last turning project with an "exotic" smell was turning a pen using antler. Wow, that was incredibly disgusting! Dill pickles sounds like a nice alternative!

I have a box of antler that I will eventually put to lathe chisel, but I'll be wearing a respirator along with my face shield.

[Reed Gray]

Well Ken, the one comment I continue to hear about the smell of zebra wood is that 'they left the zebra in the zebra wood'. I haven't turned much of it, but it is splintery, open grained, and very distinct with the stripes.

robo hippy

[Tony Rozendaal]

Bocote has been said to smell like dill pickles. It has a strong grain. I've heard it said that Zebra wood smells like zebra poop.

[robert baccus]

Did this wood come from a tuna boat salvage maybe.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Bocote has been said to smell like dill pickles. It has a strong grain. I've heard it said that Zebra wood smells like zebra poop.

Tony, then it could be bocote. Bocote and zebrawood are two of the 5 different types of exotics in that multi-pack. It surely did smell like dill pickles!

[William C Rogers]

Ken, have a picture. I have turned both Zebra wood and Bocote. However it has been two long. I can tell by a picture.

[Pat Scott]

See if this matches what you might have got:
1-Bocote
2-Cocobolo
3-Zebrawood
4-Birdseye Maple
5-Bubinga

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Pat....that is what the multi-pack had..I went to the CSUSA website and found the list. ..unfortunately some of them weren't marked so it was a shot in the dark. The physical descriptions of cocobolo and zebrawood are close enough that it's hard for my old eyes to identify them visually.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

William,

I will post some pictures later today.

[Mike Tilley]

Ken several pieces of zebra wood that I have turned have smelt like a horse stable. Some of it not very pleasant so pickles wood be a lot better.

[Chris Fairbanks]

Zebra smells like wet dog to me

[Michael Armstrong]

Ken:
If it turns out to be zebrawood then I think you'd better check the pickles you're eating! Zebrawood certainly doesn't smell like any pickles I've ever eaten.

Michael