wood ID help

[Richard Demler]

Got this wood from in town today.Huge tree but I have no idea what it is..Not a real hard wood at all.Wondering if someone might know what it is..Thank you!!

[David Hill]

Cottonwood!
Fun to turn, may be some stringy---sharp tools.
Some of the carvers really like the bark too.

[David Gilbert]

OK, I'll make a guess. It could be an elm. Knowing the location would help.

Cheers,
David

[Richard Demler]

Menominee mi..In the Upper Peninsula..I did ask and they said there was no fuzz ever coming off this tree..I did turn a quick very wet bowl from it and I like the looks of it..Hard to sand with water flying off of it..

[John K Jordan]

A number of trees have similar leaves. Do you have more leaves and do any have 3 lobes? Are the leaves duller on the bottom?

The leaves and bark remind me of a type of mulberry:



The best way I know to ID wood is by looking at the end grain with a magnifier after slicing it smooth with a razor blade.

http://www.wood-database.com/wood-ar...dwood-anatomy/
http://www.wood-database.com/wood-ar...ication-guide/

I like to use R. Bruce Hoadley's book "Identifying wood".

Also, you can send a small sample to the US governments wood products laboratory. They will ID 5 samples a year for each US citizen for no charge.

JKJ

[Leo Van Der Loo]

That certainly looks like Linden to me, or as it is also called Basswood, it is both the leaves and the flat ridged bark that makes me think it is Linden.

American Basswood.jpg Basswood bark.jpg

And a couple of pictures I took myself a few years ago.

Linden bark.jpg Linden leaves and seeds.jpg Rough turned Linden.jpg

[Richard Demler]

Thank you!!That's some great info and I believe you might be right..I'm going back for more tomorrow I will look for more clues..

[John K Jordan]

Thank you!!That's some great info and I believe you might be right..I'm going back for more tomorrow I will look for more clues..

One way to distinguish between Basswood and many others is to weigh it and determine the density. Cut a rectangle, calculate the volume, then weigh.

It is best to dry the sample first since the water weighs a lot, but some references list green wood density, for example:
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/weigt-wood-d_821.html

Also, a local arborist or forester should be able to ID this tree a glance from the leaves, bark, and wood. An tree service, maybe not so much - I had a tree guy call me with some oak logs that turned out to be sweet gum!

JKJ

[robert baccus]

yeah, Leo nailed it--Basswood for sure.

[John K Jordan]

yeah, Leo nailed it--Basswood for sure.

Richard, if you get more info (leaves, etc), this looks like a good description of the leaves and tree:

https://www.extension.iastate.edu/fo.../basswood.html

Another way to identify basswood is take a piece of the wood to a carver or chip carver. Many carve only basswood and could tell you on the first cut if it is or if it is not.

PS: I would LOVE to have some basswood trees here, but sadly, I've found none. Great for honeybees!

[Richard Demler]

Mr Van Der Loo was correct..I was there today and the lady said the worst thing about the tree was the seed leaves that fell down and got caught in everything..She described it to me and it was for sure basswood aka linden..adding pics of what I brought home..Nice wood and some interesting grain in a lot of it..