# Question Of The Week... (2015 Week 42)



## ripjack13 (Oct 11, 2015)

Howdy,
This is a weekly series of questions topic for everyone to join in on the discussion. Some of the later questions may have a poll, and some will not.
_Don't be shy now, go ahead and post an answer....

_

*How did you first learn how to I.D. wood, and what courses/steps do you plan on taking to further your knowledge about it?*





**Rules**
There is no minimum post requirement


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## Brink (Oct 11, 2015)

I can't ID to save myself.

Look at those veneered curved drawer fronts.
As the wife pointed out, I used ash instead of oak.

Reactions: Like 1 | Funny 3


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## Tclem (Oct 11, 2015)

Easy. If is it growing up from the ground and has leaves and branches it is wood

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1 | Funny 4


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## Mike1950 (Oct 11, 2015)

Tclem said:


> Easy. If is it growing up from the ground and has leaves and branches it is wood



ahh ya might need a bit more training on this one.  Just sayin

Reactions: Like 2 | EyeCandy! 2 | Funny 2


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## justallan (Oct 11, 2015)

Mike1950 said:


> ahh ya might need a bit more training on this one.  Just sayin
> 
> View attachment 89500


I'm guessing purple haired skunk, aka purple haze. From pictures of course.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1 | Funny 2


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## justallan (Oct 11, 2015)

It seems strange, but other than common woods involved in logging and milling though-out my life I really don't know most species.
Growing up in Northern California we had every kind of tree imaginable, but other than white woods for logging the only trees that I could name numbered less than a dozen or so. Here on the ranch all we have is pine, ash, elm, juniper, Russian olive and box elder that I can identify and that changes by the season.

Reactions: Like 1


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## woodtickgreg (Oct 11, 2015)

I don't think we ever stop learning how to identify wood. In board form first is sight and what it looks like, then maybe weight, or smell. I'm sure @phinds has a much better scientific approach, lol. In log form can be tougher, bark and end grain or color is all you have to go on most times, if your lucky maybe some leaves. Then there's living growing tree's, I still look at tree's in my area and wonder what the heck is that? There is a tree here in my area that looks like walnut and has similar leaves, but blooms in the fall, what the heck is it? I've never seen it cut down to investigate further, but I do wonder........... We never stop learning.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## Tclem (Oct 11, 2015)

Mike1950 said:


> ahh ya might need a bit more training on this one.  Just sayin
> 
> View attachment 89500


That's little bitty wood


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## Kevin (Oct 11, 2015)

I wait until someone smart says with confidence something like "It's Kentucky Coffeetree" then I say "Yep. Obviuously."

Reactions: Funny 6


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## Mike1950 (Oct 11, 2015)

Tclem said:


> That's little bitty wood



Fiber- they grew that one for the fiber!!

Reactions: Agree 1 | Funny 2


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## Tclem (Oct 11, 2015)

Mike1950 said:


> Fiber- they grew that one for the fiber!!

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Mike1950 (Oct 11, 2015)

I do great Id'ing trees that grow naturally here in the woods. Pretty limited though to softwoods and a few hardwoods. Now in the city it gets a little dicey. We are lucky we have the Finch arboretum with 100+ trees labeled. some close to 100 yrs old. Fun to go look especially this time of year. Now go south- ID skills are very limited...

Reactions: Like 1 | Way Cool 1


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## manbuckwal (Oct 11, 2015)

No courses and don't plan on taking any . Being around orchards and out in the woods has helped a lot for local stuff . WB has opened my eyes to a lot of diff species . Cutting walnut tho, English has a sweeter smell to me than Claro .

Reactions: Like 1


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## Blueglass (Oct 11, 2015)

I can make a pretty good rough estimate as to what something is based on books, etc. 

I go to wood data base and Hobbithouse a lot. I do have a shell coming together of "Beeswing Ekki" that I need to clean up face and end grains to see if anyone really knows. I have not found a picture of Ekki with beeswing anywhere.

Reactions: Like 1


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## David Hill (Oct 11, 2015)

I learned the basics when I took a Plant Taxonomy course at A&M quite a few years ago and got hooked then. There were a couple of other courses that I had to take as a Wildlife major that contributed too--as one had to be able to describe habitats accurately. Then more coursework in Grad School in great detail for my M.S. in Biology. Didn't get to follow a career in Wildlife as other doors opened---ya just can't get the country out of the boy.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Tony (Oct 11, 2015)

I'm not good at ID'ing at all. I've learned quite a bit from here, the most I've ever learned. This is about as much as I plan on doing to continue my education. Tony

Reactions: Like 1


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## kweinert (Oct 12, 2015)

I usually recognize the kinds of wood I normally use.

It's also why I use a sharpie to write what kind of wood it is when I order something from one of you guys.

And then there's the ever present 'tree wood' that sometimes comes disguised as packing peanuts from a Woodbarter order.

Reactions: Like 1


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## ripjack13 (Nov 14, 2015)

Well...the 2 fellas I wanted to hear from haven't even seen this yet.....so...tagged ya.
I'm personally interested in your comments.....


@Mr. Peet 
@phinds

Reactions: Agree 1


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## phinds (Nov 15, 2015)

ripjack13 said:


> *How did you first learn how to I.D. wood, and what courses/steps do you plan on taking to further your knowledge about it?*


Marc,

I learned so slowly that I really don't remember how I started. If I were to start today the first thing I would do before even thinking of doing ANYTHING else would be to read Hoadley's "Identifiying Wood" cover to cover. Twice! Hoadley is the bible for wood ID.

Then I would start picking up books such as Eric Meier's new book "WOOD ... Identifying and Using Hundreds of Woods Worldwide" and poring through the HobbitHouse Wood ID site. Both of these will give you a feel for a lot of differet woods. If you want more recommendations for books, see the "wood ID resources" sticky thread in my sub-forum on this site (Wood Identification & Characteristics of Wood).

Then, I would dig further into wood anatomy by reading the HobbitHouse site pages on wood anatomy going through all the 1000+ pics of end grains and his explanation of growth ring characteristics and parenchyma. Guy really seems to know what he's talking about () and while he is not as expert as Hoadley, he has a LOT more species of wood represented in end grain pics including a breakout by both ring characteristics and parenchyma characteristics.

As to what I personally am doing to promote my knowledge of wood for the purposes of ID, I'm slowing browsing the dozens of wood books I have, including that new one by Eric Meier, and processing the samples (about 2,000 now) that David Clark and Mark Peet have so generously loaned me over the last few years so that I can get pics of them up on the site. I've got over 300 stll in my home office right now in various stages of processing. David's latest contribution was about 400 samples from the best wood sample vendor in America. I also have something like 100 of Mark's samples on hand and there are hundreds more that he's going to loan me if/when I ever have the time to process them . SO ... I've got my work cut out for me.

Now go buy a copy of Hoadley !

Paul

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Great Post 1


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## ripjack13 (Nov 15, 2015)

phinds said:


> Now go buy a copy of Hoadley !



Done....

Thanks for the info Paul!!! 
I'll put the other one on my christmas list....


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## Mr. Peet (Nov 15, 2015)

Hey Tick, Greg, Look up "Tree of Heaven" sometimes wrongly called Chinese sumac, or simply Ailanthus, after it's Genus. The Female tree seeds very heavily and many folks see that yellow and red cluster and think fall blossoms, look it up, it might be your culprit.

Use all your senses. I feel horrible that Paul has lost the general sense of smell. This sense can often hint between different rosewoods or direct you to other choices. Life's hand dealt me many influences on my wood related knowledge. Born on a small combination farm, I grew to learn that different woods were used for different purposes. Such as elm for horse floors, locust, juniper and cedar for fence posts and roof shakes. Hemlock for beams and outdoor siding in only the vertical use. Tamarac and larch could be used vertically as well as horizontally like cedar for clap siding. Old growth Doug-fir likewise. Heartpine sometimes as siding but better for beams and posts. White oak for roof shakes, Hop-hornbeam for wagon hubs, hickory for handles and so on.

Some came from the boy scouts (BSA), ash for baseball bats, Paper and yellow birch bark for fire tinder, birches for birch beer and birch syrup, maples for maple syrup. Sassafras for tea. We used ash, alder, birch, beech and maple for cooking sticks to avoid toxins from more caustic woods. We learned some of our oaks to tell less tannic acorns from the others for eating them. We gathered beech, butternuts and walnuts for eating. We learned that the shagbark and shellbark hickories tasted like walnut without the tannic aftertaste and to avoid Pignut and Bitternut hickories. Campfires taught us the different smells of the woods by their smoke.

High school, I found myself in wood shop, then building sets for the drama nuts, and working side jobs in the landscape field. More plant data. Then college came with environmental studies being my focus. My side job was a shop steward running a small cabinetry wood shop. I learned ever so slow along the way. 5.5 years later with 4 equivalent degrees I was doing work in the PA State Park system for a few months, then was picked up by the USDA Forest Service to collect tree inventory data for research purposes. Then doing soil samples and water samples and on. When budgets were slim or poor winter weather forecasted, I worked in the landscape trade or wood shop.

And somewhere along the way I gathered various wood samples of a multitude of species to accumulate about 575 different species with 120 variations. My original mentors have gone on to the next world and I continue to learn from all those around me. Yes, Hoadley's book is a great first step.... then use sight, smell, taste and feel....

Reactions: Great Post 1 | Way Cool 1


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