Quebracho, Schinopsis lorentzii

[Big Ry]

What about moisture content? So what is your bottom line conclusion? Chuck

I don't measure MC, because it wouldn't (to my knowledge) help with identification in any way. Plus, i only have a pin lignomat too, which doesn't tell you much beyond surface level.

I'm unchanged on position. I believe that this sturdy woods quebracho is the real deal hard stuff. Everything points to a positive match, and it certainly has the feel and working characteristics of an exceptionally hard wood. While my piece of GVWP quebracho shares some material characteristics to the sturdy woods piece, it's very clearly a different species in my opinion. Having said that, i still think Dave's piece of GVWP quebracho is not the same as mine and definitely could be real s. Lorentzii.

 

[daveflutes]

@Big Ry thanks for all the info this is great stuff! I'll send you a piece of my GVWP quebracho. It is very similar to the Study Woods until you look closely at the end grain. But 'quebracho' is one of those descriptive terms that could cover a lot of ground.
Eventually I'll add the tone of the finished flute to the comparison!

 

[SA-Motors]

@Big Ry Thanks for posting the follow-up on your investigation! Very interesting!

 

[Big Ry]

@Big Ry thanks for all the info this is great stuff! I'll send you a piece of my GVWP quebracho. It is very similar to the Study Woods until you look closely at the end grain. But 'quebracho' is one of those descriptive terms that could cover a lot of ground.
Eventually I'll add the tone of the finished flute to the comparison!

Yeah, somewhere on hobbit house Paul posted a list of all the species associated with the common name "quebracho", and it's a fairly lengthy list. It seems that here in the US, "quebracho" almost universally means s. Lorentzii, but clearly that's not the case elsewhere in the world. Being that Astronium is in that list certainly explains how GVWP could be selling goncalo alves under the name "quebracho", though it should be noted that my piece of GVWP was specifically listed as s. Lorentzii. I could see how someone could be told they were getting "quebracho", then a Google search could lead them to conclude that it was s. Lorentzii when it in fact is not. The unusually high density certainly didn't help anything. That's the problem with using common names, but unfortunately everyone but the science-minded seem to use common names. Many dealers don't even list a botanical name at all. So it's like you just need to make a gamble with every purchase and hope it's accurately ID'd.

 

[Big Ry]

I decided to buy a few more blocks from GVWP. I bought all the different looking ones i could find. I got a 3x3x24, 4x4x24, and 8x8x2. The 8x8x2 is marked as Schonopsis brasilensis (aka Soto). It's the only piece with an actual species designation. Though looking at it, i still think it goncalo alves. The 4x4x24 looks to possibly be the same as the 8x8x2. I'll post photos of these later.

The 3x3x24 is the only one that actually looks like my Schonopsis lorentzii from Sturdy Woods, just like James shows in the OP. I will say though that it does feel slightly softer in hand than s. Lorentzii. It has a similar silky smooth feel that the goncalo alves from GVWP has. The s. Lorentzii from Sturdy woods is in par with pink ivory or suriname snakewood in terms of hand feel. But beyond that, it's really hard to tell a difference. I'm wondering if this block may actually be Soto. Light yellow fluorescence under UV, though i didn't use a particularly powerful UV light for this.