Is This Teak

SA-Motors said:
@Big Ry have you looked closely at your block? I would be interested to know what you think?
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I have not done anything with mine yet. Since it was in the box with the grapevine which is buggy, I basically have it quarantined for a bit until Im sure it didnt get any bugs lol

I will say though, mine definitely has red hues to it. Its at least reddish-brown, if not red with brown tones. Yours appears to be a bit more brown than mine. The rough density and grain texture do feel very similar to shedua, and shedua is known for being figured. Though both shedua and makore sometimes have mottled figure, so thats not a huge help. I'm used to seeing black areas or black lines with shedua. Yours looks like it has some black areas, whereas mine does not. Mine is much more consistent in color. That said, there are Hobbit House photos of Shedua that are red with no black, so I can't rule out the possibility that it is Shedua.

The end grain photos you posted do seem to match well to shedua. The lozenge shaped parenchyma, rays, occasional 2-pore multiples, pore size, and pore density look to match up well visually. Makore end grain reminds me of eucalyptus with the radially/diagonally stacked pore multiples. Makore seems to often have continuous banded parenchyma that's very tight spacing, though it can be pretty faint. Your photos are very clear (good job!), and obviously there's zero banded parenchyma in your block. I would strongly lean towards shedua or possibly another Guibourtia for yours.

I'm at the office today, so I can't take any photos of my block, but Ill take a look when I get home. I have a Makore board from rare Woods USA and several pieces of shedua that I can compare against. I have some other Guibourtia I can look at as well (Bubinga, Kuruguay), and I have a board of Guibourtia coleosperma arriving tomorrow from Rare Woods.
 
After looking at these pieces and comparing to the bowl, I'm fairly certain the bowl is not makore and is very likely a guibourtia. Pore arrangement and parenchyma aren't even close to matching makore. Of the pieces analyzed, shedua matches the closest. I still have another African guibourtia arriving tomorrow, but it seems probable that this is a shedua bowl blank. The shedua from exotic lumber llc and this bowl blank were the toughest to sand.

Even if shedua, the price of a 7x7x3 mottled shedua bowl blank is still probably at least $25 (can't find that exact size online right now). I also happen to love shedua, so I'm not upset at all.
 
Hi @Big Ry Thanks for the photos and the research you are doing.

I am quite happy with my blank too. It is perfectly quartersawn ... so hard to find like that. Nice colors of brown with black mixed in. I'll post a pic when I'm done with it, but likely to be a few more weeks.

I agree thus far it looks like shedua. I mounted mine on the lathe and just turned the outside shape. It is tough as nails to turn - hard as a rock.
 
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