Bowabog?

[Big Ry]

I'm working on a deal with a guy who bought 3,500-4,000bf of various boards, logs, turning blanks, and burls in an estate sale recently. There are two blocks that are very clearly labelled "Bowabog". I cannot for the life of me find any information whatsoever for a name like that. I checked with Steve Earis in the UK, and he also never heard of it. I checked with a collector friend in Singapore, and he never heard of it.

I'm trying to get the current owner of the block to cut me a sample and send it along with the other pieces I purchase from him. I offered to help try to identify the species, because - frankly - I'm super intrigued ha ha

For the record, a lot of the wood this guy got in the estate sale is very high end, and many pieces are labelled. Its clear that the deceased individual knew what he was doing in procuring the wood, so it seems implausible that he could have written an incorrectly spelled name twice.

 

[Cloud of Sawdust Farms]

The closest I could find was "bubog" or "bobog," which is apparently a name in some Filipino languages for Sterculia foetida, also known as "wild olive" or "kalumpang." Maybe "bowabog" is a variant of "bubog" in some dialect or more obscure language? I'm no expert on Filipino linguistics, but that's the best I got.

 

[Big Ry]

The closest I could find was "bubog" or "bobog," which is apparently a name in some Filipino languages for Sterculia foetida, also known as "wild olive" or "kalumpang." Maybe "bowabog" is a variant of "bubog" in some dialect or more obscure language? I'm no expert on Filipino linguistics, but that's the best I got.

I highly doubt it's an olive. It's very uniform in color and doesn't look overly oily. The end grain shot reminds me of one of the yellow species i have from South American or maybe Africa. Can't remember with it was - avodire, movingui, gaoboi... One of those.

 

[Cloud of Sawdust Farms]

I highly doubt it's an olive. It's very uniform in color and doesn't look overly oily. The end grain shot reminds me of one of the yellow species i have from South American or maybe Africa. Can't remember with it was - avodire, movingui, gaoboi... One of those.

Sterculia is in the mallow family (Malvaceae) -- it's not an olive at all, despite the common name. It's also sometimes called "wild almond," but it isn't a true almond either.

Some Sterculia species are apparently harvested as timber in SE Asia -- it's said to be a light, soft wood. The only common timber tree I found in the Malvaceae is Tilia -- basswood -- which of course is also light and soft. So if your bowabog turns out to be a hard, dense wood, I am presumably completely wrong.

 

[Big Ry]

Sterculia is in the mallow family (Malvaceae) -- it's not an olive at all, despite the common name. It's also sometimes called "wild almond," but it isn't a true almond either.

Some Sterculia species are apparently harvested as timber in SE Asia -- it's said to be a light, soft wood. The only common timber tree I found in the Malvaceae is Tilia -- basswood -- which of course is also light and soft. So if your bowabog turns out to be a hard, dense wood, I am presumably completely wrong.

I actually completely forgot we computed the density. It's 51pcf, which is about double the density of basswood.

 

[Mr. Peet]

Sterculia is in the mallow family (Malvaceae) -- it's not an olive at all, despite the common name. It's also sometimes called "wild almond," but it isn't a true almond either.

Some Sterculia species are apparently harvested as timber in SE Asia -- it's said to be a light, soft wood. The only common timber tree I found in the Malvaceae is Tilia -- basswood -- which of course is also light and soft. So if your bowabog turns out to be a hard, dense wood, I am presumably completely wrong.

They are called 'wild olive' because the fruit is similar in size. Similar to the 'wild almond' name.

I'm working on a deal with a guy who bought 3,500-4,000bf of various boards, logs, turning blanks, and burls in an estate sale recently. There are two blocks that are very clearly labelled "Bowabog". I cannot for the life of me find any information whatsoever for a name like that. I checked with Steve Earis in the UK, and he also never heard of it. I checked with a collector friend in Singapore, and he never heard of it.

I'm trying to get the current owner of the block to cut me a sample and send it along with the other pieces I purchase from him. I offered to help try to identify the species, because - frankly - I'm super intrigued ha ha

For the record, a lot of the wood this guy got in the estate sale is very high end, and many pieces are labelled. Its clear that the deceased individual knew what he was doing in procuring the wood, so it seems implausible that he could have written an incorrectly spelled name twice.

View attachment 293780 View attachment 293781

Bauhinia variegata has used that name. Don't recall it being heavy. Hope he sends you a piece.

 

[Big Ry]

They are called 'wild olive' because the fruit is similar in size. Similar to the 'wild almond' name.

Bauhinia variegata has used that name. Don't recall it being heavy. Hope he sends you a piece.

Do you think is plausible to get a 10-3/4" x 9" x 3-3/8" block out of that species? I'm reading it's not a particularly big tree.

 

[SA-Motors]

Hi Ryan, great find! Will be interesting to see what it turns out to be.

 

[Big Ry]

He says he'll send me a piece, so I'll be sure to get it cleaned up and fully examined