What Timber is this..PLEASE

[skot]

I grabbed this bit of wood today, thinking it was a bit of Jacaranda. It was light colored on the outside but when I cut the blank out with my just completed cirlce jig (smug mode - Pic 1), it was a deep purple colour.

As I turned the outside it seemed to get a darker purple colour and some of the shavings had the appearance of dirt.

It was easy to turn and finished a treat.

Hope some more knowledgable woodies here can help my identify this species.

Pic 5 is looking at the bottom before I chucked it on the dovetail jaws and hollowed it out

[Tony Morton]

Hi Skot

To me the blank looks like bkack heart sassafras I've seen narrow strips of purple/lilac and pink in it but not as much as in the finished bowl hope this helps.

Cheers Tony

[corbs]

Gidgee? I really don't have a clue and the square sections don't look like the same wood as the bowl:rolleyes:. Was there a purple line between the heart & sapwood? If so it could be purple gidgee... but I really don't have a clue:-

[skot]

corbs,
I don't think it's gidgee...too soft. I understand that gidgee is as hard as iron.

Tony, I'll have a look for sassafras on the web. The pic of the polished outside makes it look a dark brown colour but in person it is deep purple.

[corbs]

Gidgee will never be confused for a soft wood:wink:... let the search for the wood species continue

[wood hacker]

Hey Skot

I don't think it's black heart sassafras as Tony suggested. I turned a piece of BHS during the week and it certainly didn't behave like you describe. What started white stayed white and what started brown/black stayed that way too and there was not a hint o purple anywhere.

Sorry but no suggestions as to what it could be though.

WH

[mic-d]

It might be Queensland walnut. Pale yellow sapwood and brown heartwood with darker brown bands seems to fit.

cheers
Michael

[Ironwood]

What about Burdekin Plum. I've never used it before so dont know what it is like to work with.
But I can remember seeing purple, brown, orange colours in a slab I saw once. Cant remember what the sapwood was like though.
Just a thought:).

[gtwilkins]

Hi Skot,

If you where here on the other side of the big water I would say its American Black Walnut or one of the hybrids. You get all kind of purples and colours in Walnut when its air dried.
Was walnut ever imported in to Australia?

Trevor

[skot]

I was just checking on the net using the suggestions from the wonderful helpers on this forum and I am leaning towards a walnut, although it is very easy to turn and not sure if walnut is easy to work. The bandsaw ate through it with no probs and the turning was a breeze.

[Cliff Rogers]

Doesn't look like BP to me, you would have commented that it was heavy if it was BP.

Looks a bit like raintree.

Does the end grain tear out easily?

[Cliff Rogers]

Qld walnut is very abrasive on the tools.

[skot]

Cliff, this wasn't hard on the tools...count Walnut out
Not too much tearout on endgrain either..

Maybe I should stop wasting the formulites time here and accept it as a nice bit of timber and probably better to wait until Maleny Wood Show, take it with me and ask one of the merchants. I understand that it is difficult to guess with a pic and best to see it in person to see the colour and grain.

[Treecycle]

Could it be Purpleheart? Similar description to this site Species Spotlight: Purpleheart | Tom's Workbench (http://tomsworkbench.com/2009/11/30/species-spotlight-purpleheart/)

[dai sensei]

Where did you get the timber from? Is it a local timber?

[skot]

The origin is unknown as I was given it by the previous owner of my lathe....I bought his lathe, so he no longer had need for the timber.

[wood hacker]

Hey Skot

I asked my old man about this one yesterday. He suggested that it could possibly by Cottonwood. Apparently it can behave as you have described, and go purple as you turn it.

cheers
WH

[Texian]

From the picture it sure looks like our black walnut. Turns and finishes well.

[skot]

Wood Hacker,

I think your dad wins the prize (sorry there really is no actual prize), he confirms some feedback I got from the Maleny Wood Expo today. I took it there to show some of the exhibitors in person.

One said Walnut but I still think it was too easy to turn for that..but another one said Cottonwood straight away. I checked out cottonwood on the net when I got back home and it appears on the money, even descibed how it became "fuzzy" in some sections when turning.

I believe my search is over...not an exotic timber after all.

Thanks to all for your input and also to Wood Hacker's dad...he does know his timber...you just can not beat that experience.

Cheers

[wood hacker]

Wood Hacker,

I think your dad wins the prize

Cheers

Skot

He will be chuffed to have got it right.

[WOODY70]

Wood Hacker,

I think your dad wins the prize (sorry there really is no actual prize), he confirms some feedback I got from the Maleny Wood Expo today. I took it there to show some of the exhibitors in person.

One said Walnut but I still think it was too easy to turn for that..but another one said Cottonwood straight away. I checked out cottonwood on the net when I got back home and it appears on the money, even descibed how it became "fuzzy" in some sections when turning.

I believe my search is over...not an exotic timber after all.

Thanks to all for your input and also to Wood Hacker's dad...he does know his timber...you just can not beat that experience.

Cheers
Hello Skot,

I am glad the identification of the cottontree helped at Maleny.

Cheers
Dave
(in the big truck):U

[artme]

Can tell you what it is not:

Gurpleheart - description and ppics of blocks before turning simply don't fit an Pupleheart is very dense.

Gidgee of any sort. Not dense enough by your description nor hard enough to turn.

B/H Sassy - turns like botter. Timber is too uniformly dark

Possibilities:

Raintree- Is dirty stuff to turn but cab be hard on tools. Never seen any that uniformly dark.

Qld. Walnut - Wasn't aware that it is dirty to turn.

I had thought of Wilga - Dirty to turn, about the colour of the unturned blanks but never seen it the colour of the finished piece.

Do you remember what it smelt like as you turned it??