Free Wood Gloat and Request to Identify Type of Wood

[Frank Pellow]

Doing someone a favour often turns out to be a win-win situation.

About a month ago Norm, my neighbour down the street, mentioned to me that he had some junk he wanted to get rid of and was planning to rent a dumpster. I offered him my trailer and, furthermore (since he has a bad knee), I said that I would help him move the junk into the trailer and then to the garbage transfer depot.

We arranged a date, then last week Norm said that the stuff had to be taken to a special transfer station. I asked him why and he said that wood could not be dropped at the depot nearby.

My eyes lit up, as I asked: “What kind of wood?”

Norm’s reply was: “Oh just various 2x4s and scrap that I realize now that I will never use.”

My reply: “I can probably cut most of that up and use it in the wood stove in my shop.”

Norm’s reply: “Great! Oh yes, now that I am thinking about it, there may be some maple that you can use the make things. It’s behind a big pile so we will have to wait to look at it.”

So, a little over a week ago, a spent about 6 hours moving wood out of Norm’s basement and garage and down the street to my place.

The first good news is that a now have enough firewood to get me through next winter (that is, the winter of 2006-2007).
The next good news is that there, indeed, was some maple. The boards had holes drilled in the middle about every 18”, but after cutting out the middle then running the pieces through my jointer and planer, I was left with 110 linear feet of 2⅛ inch by 1⅛ inch very nice looking maple.

Maple boards from Norm -small.JPG

I also have 55 linear feet of 2⅛ inch by ¾ inch sections from the centre with notches in them. I am sure that a use will be found for this as well.

Maple boards from Norm -part cut out of the middle -small.JPG

And, finally, I also obtained the two 8’ x 7¾” x 1¾ (dressed) hardwood boards shown below. I don’t know what type of wood they are. I do know that they are not maple.

Boards`from Norm -unknown wood type -small.JPG

If anyone wants to hazard a guess at what type of wood this is, please do so. There is a closer-uo photo of this mystery wood in post #9 in this thread.

I told Norm that hardwood was valuable and offered him some money, but he wouldn’t accept it. He even tells me that he has some more wood somewhere in his basement and will be calling upon me to remove it in about a month.

[Howard Rosenberg]

Sure looks like a nice road was paved with good intentions.
Howard

[Corey Hallagan]

Nice gloat Frank, a little work and a kind gesture paid off!

Corey

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Very nice score Frank....it pays to be helpful to your neighbors!!

[Larry Browning]

Frank,
I have aquired some very old rough cut maple boards that were stored outside under a tin roof for over 25 years. After planing them down I discovered they had a very distinctive gray color similar to what your picture shows. They seem to be structurly sound but are not very pretty. I am wondering if maybe these actually are maple but are weathered so much that they have lost that beautiful white color.

[Frank Pellow]

Larry, the grey layer on my wood was very thin. Here is a close-up of how the my bords looked once they were run through the planer.

dressed maple from Norm.JPG

By the way Larry, I like your new avitar.

[Eric Murphy]

From the picture, it kind of looks like maple, maybe just quartersawn. Can you tell from the end grain whether whatever it is is quartersawn?

[Frank Pellow]

From the picture, it kind of looks like maple, maybe just quartersawn. Can you tell from the end grain whether whatever it is is quartersawn?

Eric, this is maple, and I was showing Larry how the grey did not penatrate the way that it seems to have done with his wood.

It.s my other boards that I am confused about. I will post a close up of one of them soon then post it in this thread.

[Frank Pellow]

Here is a close-up shot of the hardwood that I can not identify. I think that the wood does not weigh enough to be maple.

[Larry Browning]

Larry, the grey layer on my wood was very thin. Here is a close-up of how the my bords looked once they were run through the planer.
By the way Larry, I like your new avitar.

Frank,
Now that really looks like maple to me. What make you think it is not?

BTW The avitar came from Jim Becker. He cropped it from the picture of Ian Barley and me taken at Ian's shop a couple of weeks ago and did some sort of enhancement to it. It is much better than the fuzzy one I had before. I think it actually looks like me.

[Larry Browning]

Here is a close-up shot of the hardwood that I can not identify. I think that the wood does not weigh enough to be maple.

Frank,
The other posts appeared while I was composing my other post.
I am still sticking with my original opinion on this board. The closeup looks very much like the boards I have. They are also light in weight. Have you checked the moisture content? I'd bet that are very dry.

[Frank Pellow]

Frank,
Now that really looks like maple to me. What make you think it is not?

BTW The avitar came from Jim Becker. He cropped it from the picture of Ian Barley and me taken at Ian's shop a couple of weeks ago and did some sort of enhancement to it. It is much better than the fuzzy one I had before. I think it actually looks like me.

Larry, I see that I am confusing folks (and, sometimes even myself ).

The wood that I am showing in post #6 is maple. I posted that in order to show you that the grey was not very deep.

It is the wood in post #9 that I am attempting to identify.

Jim helped me make my avitar clearer as well. It's a great service that Jim provides us, isn't it?

[Michael Disorbo]

Looks like cherry!!

[Hank Knight]

Frank, I'm with Larry. I think the wood in Pic #9 is maple. I have some old 8/4 maple that has pink and tan coloration like your picture and the grain looks like maple to me.
Cheers.
Hank

[Larry Browning]

Looks like cherry!!

Hey! I kinda like'n Michael's guess better than mine.