# A Mystery wood to me



## FranklinWorkshops (Aug 3, 2019)

Eric @Eric Rorabaugh and I were at Rick Herne's Lumber this week and I picked this piece out of his scrap pile. After flattening it and planing, it shows amazing figure but the specie is a mystery. Maybe someone can ID it. 

I carefully measured its size and weight and came up with 54 lbs.cf. When sawing it, the fragrance was similar to white oak - a grassy smell. Any ideas.

Reactions: EyeCandy! 1


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## Albert Kiebert (Aug 3, 2019)

Just a W.A.G. but this looks like Sapele with some nice coloring and light quilting

Nice grab!!

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## FranklinWorkshops (Aug 3, 2019)

Albert, the only concern I have with it being Sapele is the weight. According to the Wood Database website, Sapele averages 42 lb/cf and my sample is 54 and it has only 10% moisture content. But the endgrain does look like Sapele.


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## phinds (Aug 3, 2019)

I've had sapele up to 50lbs/cuft so I'd say 54 is not out of the question and the face look exactly like quilted sapele. I can't tell much from your end grain shot. Can you clean up an area and get a closer pic?


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## FranklinWorkshops (Aug 3, 2019)

Thanks Paul. I pulled out a strong magnifying glass and compared it to the end grain photos on your website. It's a very close match. So Sapele it is. The annual growth rings are extremely tight so this tree was very slow growing. The thickness is less than 2" so there are 40-45 growth rings per inch. That may be why it's so heavy.


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## phinds (Aug 3, 2019)

FranklinWorkshops said:


> Thanks Paul. I pulled out a strong magnifying glass and compared it to the end grain photos on your website. It's a very close match. So Sapele it is. The annual growth rings are extremely tight so this tree was very slow growing. The thickness is less than 2" so there are 40-45 growth rings per inch. That may be why it's so heavy.


You have to be careful about analyzing growth rings in woods that have what is called "seemingly marginal parenchyma" and sapele is a prime example of that. I don't know how/why seeming marginal parenchyma develops but it does not necessarily indicate a growth ring and when you see an ton of them all jammed together, as is common on sapele, they almost certainly do not indicate growth rings.

More to follow ...


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## phinds (Aug 3, 2019)

sapele with:

1 => probably true marginal parenchyma
2 => seemingly marginal parenchyma, not likely to be growth rings






Honduras mahogany with true marginal parenchyma => definitely growth rings




Oh, and both of these are 1/2" x 1/2" end grain cross sections

Reactions: Like 1 | Thank You! 1 | Informative 5


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## FranklinWorkshops (Aug 4, 2019)

Paul, this first scan is a 1 x 1 section
The second one is 2 x 2 

Can you tell anything from this? They were scanned at 1200 dpi.


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## phinds (Aug 4, 2019)

Yeah, that's better. Now that I can see clearly what I'm seeing is that it seems in every respect to be sapele except for having too much banded parenchyma. That doesn't rule out sapele it's just that I've never seen solid banded parenchyma like that in sapele. It's usually groups of them and then none and the more groups and the groups are not uniform in distribution of the banding.

As I said, everything else points to sapele. Face grain looks exactly like sapele, pore density is a match, pore size is a match, lots of pore multiples is a match and the faint thin closely spaced rays is a match as is the spacing of the rays relative to the size of the pores.

And to top all that off, it doesn't match anything else I can find.

SO ... a bit heavy and way more banded parenchyma than expected but still almost certainly sapele

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## FranklinWorkshops (Aug 4, 2019)

As you point out on your website, there are lots of variations within the same specie. Growing conditions, soil conditions, etc. can cause wide variety it seems. 
I think I'm going to use it for some necklace and bracelet stands I make for my Etsy story. Should be gorgeous with the proper finish.


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## phinds (Aug 4, 2019)

FranklinWorkshops said:


> As you point out on your website, there are lots of variations within the same specie. Growing conditions, soil conditions, etc. can cause wide variety it seems.
> I think I'm going to use it for some necklace and bracelet stands I make for my Etsy story. Should be gorgeous with the proper finish.


That's species, not specie. "Specie" means coins, never anything biological. Species is both single and plural.

Yes, I agree, figured sapele can range from really pretty (likely for your piece) to absolutely stunning for a highly figured pieces. I've never had any of the highly figured stuff but have seen lots of pics.


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## rocky1 (Aug 5, 2019)

OK Grammar Cop!



phinds said:


> ...figured sapele can be range from...





phinds said:


> ...absolutely stunning for a highly figured pieces...

Reactions: Funny 4 | Sincere 1


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## phinds (Aug 5, 2019)

Ah nuts. Hoist by my own petard.

Reactions: Funny 5


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## Eric Rorabaugh (Aug 5, 2019)

Few will understand that probably


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## FranklinWorkshops (Aug 5, 2019)

Paul, remember that it was Rocky and not me that did it. I may need your help in the future.

Reactions: Funny 2


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## phinds (Aug 5, 2019)

Eric Rorabaugh said:


> Few will understand that probably


Well, they'll just have to find their own petard then. I'm not into bomb making any more.

Reactions: Funny 3


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## phinds (Aug 5, 2019)

FranklinWorkshops said:


> Paul, remember that it was Rocky and not me that did it. I may need your help in the future.


I know. Rocky helps keep me honest on grammar. 

I have to make a mistake or two every now and then just to make sure he's awake.

Reactions: Funny 3


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## Patrude (Aug 5, 2019)

I bought Sapele looks a lot like this


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## rocky1 (Aug 6, 2019)

I simply could not resist!!


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