# Haven't seen this one before I don't think



## norman vandyke (Sep 24, 2015)

Looks like blood wood to me but didn't seem heavy enough.


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## Foot Patrol (Sep 24, 2015)

babinga?


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## norman vandyke (Sep 24, 2015)

Foot Patrol said:


> babinga?


I don't think that's it. Dry it's got purple color toward the center of the end grain and a variety of colors on the face, which is quarter sawn.


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## Mr. Peet (Sep 24, 2015)

I had thought "Jatoba" at first glance. Bubinga often has larger pores and groups of 2 or 3 pores randomly through out. "Purple heart" had come to mind as well as a few others. Was this pallet wood, traded stock or outright purchased?


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## norman vandyke (Sep 24, 2015)

Pallet wood. Pretty much everything I get that's not pallet wood is fairly easily identified. I have some jatoba and that looks very similar but I don't think it's that either.


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## Tony (Sep 24, 2015)

The end grain looks like Purpleheart to me, but not the face. Tony


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## winters98 (Sep 24, 2015)

Where do you guys find these weird pieces?


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## norman vandyke (Sep 24, 2015)

winters98 said:


> Where do you guys find these weird pieces?


In a pile of scrap. Lol! Seriously, I found a Craigslist ad advertising pallet wood as firewood and I checked it out. They throw new stuff out every day. Rengas, eucalyptus, kempas, spalted sycamore, spalted oak, live oak and a bunch of others yet to be identified. Makes for some pleasant surprises sometimes.

Reactions: Like 1


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## phinds (Sep 25, 2015)

Most likely cabreuva (aka santos mahogany). Check it out against the pics on my site.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## norman vandyke (Sep 25, 2015)

phinds said:


> Most likely cabreuva (aka santos mahogany). Check it out against the pics on my site.


Thank you so much. This looks to be the culprit. I do wish it hasn't turned out to be a flooring wood. Lol


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## Mr. Peet (Sep 25, 2015)

I agree Paul, "Santos mahogany" is a good choice, especially looking back at his wet piece and thinking about the finish sealed *FLOORING* pieces I have....


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## barry richardson (Sep 25, 2015)

norman vandyke said:


> Thank you so much. This looks to be the culprit. I do wish it hasn't turned out to be a flooring wood. Lol


Jatoba and purple heart started out as flooring/utility woods too, then someone realized they could market them as "exotics"


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## Kevin (Sep 25, 2015)

Purpleheart was used extensively in everything from timber frames, post and beam construction, bridges and all manner of construction for decades in the regions it grew. It excels in those purposes and there's many such structures still in existence today so I have read and heard back when I was piddling in timber framing.


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## MarksCaribbeanWoodworks (Feb 2, 2016)

That end grain looks like the end grain on the Mahogany I have in St. Thomas, but I think that the grain patterns can be different between the two islands. Sounds weird I know, but Santos Mahogany can sometimes be harvested from higher elevations than here in Virgin Islands were nearly all the Mahogany will be found between 0 and maybe 300 feet above sea level. So I think this puts more salt water content into the wood. And some of the oldest and most beautiful mahogany I have seen is from places that were - at one time - less than 100 feet from high tide but are now like 500 feet after people backfilled and developed ocean front property.


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## Mr. Peet (Feb 3, 2016)

Mark, Paul was referring to the _Myroxylon_ genus, not the _Swietenia_ genus. Just another place that trade name cause confusion and mislead users. Balsamo is another name for "Santos Mahogany".


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