I came upon some pretty old lumber...

[Harold Burrell]

OK...this was pretty cool for me. I am relatively new to this whole woodworking thing, but I am already in love with it.

But today I came upon some old wood that was being thrown away from an old church that was sold. The wood was actually from the pipes of an OLD pipe organ. I did a little research and discovered that the organ had been constructed in 1892.

I have already planed down a board. This stuff is NICE. Only problem is...I have no idea what it is.

It looks a lot like pine to me (which would be ok, but I rather doubt it as pine was rarely used to make organ pipes), but it is very light colored.

Anyway...whatever it is...it just seems WAY cool to me that I can actually make furniture out of 100+ year old wood.

And it was free.

[Eric Meier]

It could be Spruce...

Sitka Spruce

[Josiah Bartlett]

Spruce is a very common tonal wood, for making guitars and other musical instruments, as well as piano sound boards. Mahogany was also used a lot in musical instruments for a "darker" sound- spruce can be fairly bright. You probably know what mahogany looks like, I'm guessing its spruce. You may be able to get a good price for that if you can find a luthier who wants old growth wood.

[Harold Burrell]

Originally Posted by Josiah Bartlett

Spruce is a very common tonal wood, for making guitars and other musical instruments, as well as piano sound boards. Mahogany was also used a lot in musical instruments for a "darker" sound- spruce can be fairly bright. You probably know what mahogany looks like, I'm guessing its spruce. You may be able to get a good price for that if you can find a luthier who wants old growth wood.

I'm guessing it is spruce, too. It looks (and smells) "piney". However, there are like no knots in it. It also seems harder than pine (of course, that could have something to do with the fact that it is...shall we say..."seasoned".)

[george wilson]

I have had wood from antique organ pipes.they were northern white pine. Wood selected with no knots(a loose knot would cause havoc with the tone!)

[Larry Edgerton]

I am restoring the outside of a 130 year old house right now and all of the trim is being replaced with Azek. I am salvaging what I can but most of it is in pretty bad shape, but I am enjoying seeing how they did the work so long ago. I have been saving as many of the square nails as I can economically justify, and some of the trim. It is interesting to work on a house knowing that it was built with hand tools only, although the trim details were factory built they too are interesting. It is a beautiful house, and when I am done it will look the same but be fuel efficient.

Did I mention how much I hate working with Azek? Stinks! Literally!

I have a redwood crotch cut table in my living room, and it is well over 200 years old, and it never fails to intrigue me when on occasion I study the grain patterns and think about all that transpired while it was living. Old wood is cool!

[Casey Gooding]

How heavy is it?? It could be Chestnut. It would have been plentiful and widely used at the time. Before the dreaded blight hit.

[Harold Burrell]

Originally Posted by Casey Gooding

How heavy is it?? It could be Chestnut. It would have been plentiful and widely used at the time. Before the dreaded blight hit.

hmmm...

I am not a very good judge of weight. It does seem to be a tad heavier than the pine I would buy around here, but nowhere near as heavy as something like oak.

[Wayne Morris]

Consider one of these; pine, poplar, mahogany and ash. All commonly used to build pipes. (Or not mahogany since you said the wood was light colored.) You may also find a number of species of wood within the various pipes depending on the tones required.

Wayne

[Harold Burrell]

Originally Posted by Wayne Morris

You may also find a number of species of wood within the various pipes depending on the tones required.

Wayne

Oh great! Then I'll have a whole bunch of wood that I won't know what it is!

[Josiah Bartlett]

Free wood is the best species of all.

[Harold Burrell]

Originally Posted by Wayne Morris

You may also find a number of species of wood within the various pipes depending on the tones required.

Wayne

You were right! I just tore down a larger pipe and it was made from an entirely different type of wood. Too cool!

I've got to tell you...I am like a little kid with this stuff. It's almost like unwrapping presents!

My wife thinks I'm pathetic...

[Peter Quinn]

Originally Posted by Larry Edgerton

Did I mention how much I hate working with Azek? Stinks! Literally!

Larry, I've done a few things with Kleer polyurethane trim boards, its a similar product to Azek available locally for me. Man does it stink, and the dust sticks to my collector and every thing it touches for weeks, so its a gift that keeps on giving. Every time I fire up the collector after using it the stink returns, like a bloated skunk is stuck in the pipe. But MAN does it hold paint! And it bends oddly well with a heat gun, but that too stinks! Sorry to hyjack and good luck with that house.

[Peter Rivlin]

If you are down south and the wood smells like pine, has tight growth rings and is light brown/tan or brownish/red this is a possibility. I have been working with this wood extensively and the shop smells like pine when it is planed down, even though the wood is 100+ year old.

Peter