OK, I got the piece, but I'm having trouble with the ID. I'm pretty sure it's larch or spruce but so far I can't tell which. I'm going to have to leave it for tonight and come back to it. I've sanded it down to 400 grit and looked at it til my eyeballs hurt, along with looking at my own larch and spruce samples and checking Hoadley for clues. If I had a gun to my head I'd say it's probably spruce but absent that degree of urgency, I'd just say it's probably wood.
My eyes through my 10X loupe are getting more information than my camera can capture to show you but it's doing no good because the micro characteristics of the two are VERY similar and I can just barely see the open ends of the tiny tracheods anyway. I'd need a microscope to see them at the level that might distinguish the two and even then I don't know that it would be a sure thing.
I'm looking at the tracheids, rays, and spikes at a level of detail that is finer than where I normally go, and I need to spend more time with it all, so ... g'night all
My eyes through my 10X loupe are getting more information than my camera can capture to show you but it's doing no good because the micro characteristics of the two are VERY similar and I can just barely see the open ends of the tiny tracheods anyway. I'd need a microscope to see them at the level that might distinguish the two and even then I don't know that it would be a sure thing.
I'm looking at the tracheids, rays, and spikes at a level of detail that is finer than where I normally go, and I need to spend more time with it all, so ... g'night all