# so maybe it is Bucida buceras after all



## duncsuss (Jan 21, 2017)

I was tidying in the garage today and found a piece of wood labeled "pucte".

_*Edit: please read Paul's post correctly id-ing this piece -- thanks for setting me right on this, Paul.*_

Whatever it's called (jucaro or bulletwood seem to be the common aliases), this piece has some nice curl. The billet I have is 1" thick, 5" wide, 28" long. I got it in an auction to raise money for a guy whose shop caught fire a couple of years back.

Sorry the pic isn't great, I might be able to get a better shot in daylight tomorrow.


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## phinds (Jan 21, 2017)

There's a long story about the name of this wood on my jucaro page. Long story short, what you have is bulletwood / massaranduba / Manilkara spp. (including Manilkara bidentata, Manilkara elata, Manilkara huberi, and Manilkara littoralis ), NOT bulletwood / jucaro / pucte / Bucida buceras. It's a common mistake made by many vendors because of cross-use of common names. You can clearly see the difference between the two woods on my site. The Manilkara's are grainy like what you have and the Bucida buceras is somewhat smoother. Also, the Manilkara comes in red and purple, like yours, whereas the Bucida buceras doesn't (it's more browns and greens)

That's a particularly nice curly piece. I've had several curly pieces but none with a curl quite that strong. In fact, usually it's quite weak in this wood. One of my pieces of Manilkara spp. that was sold to me as "oxhorn" does show a nice curl but because of the color I'm confident that it is a different species than the stuff sold to me as massaranduba. For one thing, it's greenish, not reddish.

Reactions: Like 1 | Thank You! 1


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## duncsuss (Jan 21, 2017)

I did start to read your jucaro page but it has been a hard day and I'm easily confused even when I'm not tired  It was too much for me to make sense of, but I'll go back to it tomorrow.

I'll also try to get some better pix, maybe sand an area of it and clean up some end grain. 

Thanks!


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## duncsuss (Jan 23, 2017)

This is a more accurate color balance on the wood (daylight really makes a difference). Spritzed with water.

Reactions: EyeCandy! 3


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## duncsuss (Jan 31, 2017)

@phinds Paul, I sanded one end of this piece through the grits to 600. Here are a couple of pix taken with my macro lens and ring-flash -- the scale marker is a couple of 1/4" lengths (both pix taken at the same magnification). I hope these are clean enough to be useful.


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## phinds (Jan 31, 2017)

OK, now I'm REALLY confused. That end grain, as nearly as I can tell, is not EITHER of the woods we've been discussing. I'm 100% sure that it's not Manilkara spp (bulletwood / massaranduba) and I'm about 90% sure that it's not Bucida buceras (bulletwood / jucaro). It is conceivable that it is Bucida buceras but I think it has way too much confluent parenchyma. The only way I would be able to tell is if you either clean up the end gain a lot better or send me a big enough cutoff that I can do it.


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## duncsuss (Jan 31, 2017)

Confusion seems to follow me around a lot 

I'll try sanding again and take it up to higher grit this time (and maybe blast out the pores with compressed air between grits).


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## phinds (Feb 6, 2017)

Duncan, any progress on this? You've really got me curious about what wood this is.


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## duncsuss (Feb 6, 2017)

phinds said:


> Duncan, any progress on this? You've really got me curious about what wood this is.


Not had time to work on it yet -- it'll be a few weeks. I might be able to cut off a piece and send it to you for analysis faster.


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## phinds (Feb 6, 2017)

duncsuss said:


> Not had time to work on it yet -- it'll be a few weeks. I might be able to cut off a piece and send it to you for analysis faster.


Either way. Just don't want it to fall through the cracks. I'll PM you my address in case you do decide to send me a piece. Actually, that is the best way to assure the most accuracy in the ID.


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## phinds (Feb 9, 2017)

@duncsuss I just got the piece. Some notes:
1) there is no hint of the purple shown in your first pic and even your second pic doesn't quite capture the color, at least based on the sample you sent. The actual color of the piece you sent just SCREAMS at me that it is "oxhorn" (Budica buceras).
2) The large amount of confluent parenchyma that I thought I saw in your end grain shot (good pic by the way) is in fact slightly less than I thought because I can tell from looking at it even before processing that some of that is going to go away with the cleanup (it's just mashed tissue) but a LOT of it is going to remain.
3) It turns out I was wrong in my assessment that this is too much confluent parenchyma for Bucida buceras. After checking my samples again, I see that I had overlooked a few (one in particular) that DO have that much confluent parenchyma.

SO ... I now believe it is Bucida buceras after all and I'll be surprised if my final analysis after processing is any different than that. I'll post pics after processing.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## duncsuss (Feb 9, 2017)

Sorry about that first shot, Paul -- cellphone pic using the cell-phone flash ... I have an 18% gray color balance card somewhere, I should try to find it.

Thanks!


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## phinds (Feb 18, 2017)

OK, here's a face grain shot from me and an end grain closeup. As you can see in the end grain closeup, what at first, based on your pic, I thought in post #6 was too much confluent parenchyma did indeed turn out to be crushed grain as I suggested in post #11 that it might me. So ... Bucida buceras it is !

Reactions: Like 1 | Thank You! 1


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## duncsuss (Feb 19, 2017)

Thanks, Paul - I appreciate your help with this (and to everyone else having trouble getting an ID on stuff, not just this specific case).


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