Figured beach wood that doesn’t belong in a burn pile…

Byron Barker

Byron Barker

Member
Full Member
Messages
1,180
Reaction score
1,689
Location
Hualien Taiwan
First name
Byron
WB friends, I’m going to be offering some of these strange beach finds I run into here in Taiwan after typhoons. The woods are too nice to let rot on the beach or burn. If you’re looking for something unusual, this may be up your alley.

First piece for consideration. I have no idea what it is. I split some for firewood and instantly knew it didn’t belong on a burn pile. Lovely colors and ring pattern. It seems to have high chatoyancy and some interesting quilting going on. Smells fantastic; something like cypress, but spicy and sweet also. This is not a dense wood. It feels quite light weight, but has interlocking fibers which made it a bit hard to split. You can see the top cutoff in the last pictures. Note the natural shine and figure. I cleaned the wood up with an angle grinder and sealed a few small superficial cracks here and there with CA glue. Pictures below are sealed snd unsealed with polyurethane. No color adjustments were made. 33cmx20x14. Asking 30$ plus shipping OBO.

IMG_6611.webp IMG_6610.webp IMG_6613.webp IMG_6605.webp IMG_6604.webp IMG_6603.webp IMG_6588.webp IMG_6585.webp
 
Last edited:
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #5
chatometry said:
Could it be some sort of juniperus?
Click to expand...
I really don’t think so. I’ve worked with loads of species of junipers over the years and this just doesn’t have the volume of growth rings junipers have. I did consider that for a moment while I was cleaning it up with the grinder as it began to reveal one side of it had that juniper pink color. I was really scratching my head on it. The smell too is like 5 woods I know and yet none of them. Very odd wood. I’m glad I didn’t burn it. We do have many species of conifers only found in Taiwan, but again, what’s with the growth rings?
 
Our Leland cypress has growth rings like that. It is a fast growing conifer. Hybrid of white cedar and monterey cypress is what I was told. Yours could be a cedar with the aromatic that you describe. But I am just spit balling here. Since it was following a typhoon, the only thing certain is it washed up. Country of origin isn't even a certainty after a typhoon.
 
Yes, it does look beautifu! I’m going to start setting my alarm for 2:30 in the morning as well. 🙂 @Byron Barker I think it’s great the way you’re offering the unique wood from Taiwan to all of us here in the states!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top