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  1. 15th January 2019, 05:34 PM #1
    wynyard
    wynyard is offline Novice
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    Default What is this odd greenish timber in ~120 yo Extension Dining Table Top?

    G'day.

    I'm hoping someone here can enlighten me a bit.

    I'm restoring a typical Late Victorian / Early Edwardian, 2 leaf extension dining table. Turned legs, worm screw mechanism, etc. Much like the 10-15 I have restored in the past, except for one thing....after stripping and sanding the top, the timber is the most horrible colour - very much like the yellow-green of treated pine. The grain looks like Kauri, very even and clean with a few swirls, and a couple of grain shimmers here and there plus there is a small amount of yellow/pink, mainly on what looks to be the start of the sap wood on the wide boards. It is even lighter (in weight) than Kauri, which these tables were commonly built from, and became very furry when sanded - it is taking a lot to get even and smooth. Kauri I find is usually fairly hard for a softwood and sands well, easily.

    The skirts are made of the same timber so I'm discounting a later replacement top. Legs are Mahogany which was not unusual at the time.

    The table was stained dark, and the client wants it finished in a similar colour thankfully as it would look horrible with a clear finish.
    I have sanded it deep into the 120 year old timber as there were deep scratches & stains that needed removing - There is no way this is the result of any stain or finish leaching in - this is definitely the timber's natural colour.

    It does look much greener in real life than the pics indicate.

    Any ideas?

    Cheers,

    Matt.

    Green stuff 004.jpgGreen stuff 003.jpgGreen stuff 002.jpgGreen stuff 001.jpg
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  3. 15th January 2019, 06:27 PM #2
    Robson Valley
    Robson Valley is offline GOLD MEMBER
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    Default

    Awaaaaaay up here, we see a lot of that as inner furniture wood, drawer sides and the like.
    The pale streaked swamp greens and the grey streaks (a few tan streaks, too) make my decision.
    It's likely Aspen, closely related to poplar and cottonwood (all in the Populus genus).

    Excellent dimensional stability and holds good detail in carvings for wood cut printings.
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  4. 15th January 2019, 07:05 PM #3
    Euge
    Euge is offline GOLD MEMBER
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Robson Valley View Post
    Awaaaaaay up here, we see a lot of that as inner furniture wood, drawer sides and the like.
    The pale streaked swamp greens and the grey streaks (a few tan streaks, too) make my decision.
    It's likely Aspen, closely related to poplar and cottonwood (all in the Populus genus).

    Excellent dimensional stability and holds good detail in carvings for wood cut printings.
    I tend to agree RV .... or Tulip Poplar( Liriodendron tulipifera) wood. The softness and wooliness also support this as well as the greyish colour.
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  5. 15th January 2019, 11:24 PM #4
    wynyard
    wynyard is offline Novice
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    Default

    Forgot to say - I'm in Australia. Melbourne. So maybe a swamp timber from Sydney then.

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  6. 15th January 2019, 11:34 PM #5
    Euge
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    With respect, where you live would not change my mind about the wood id that was given
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  7. 16th January 2019, 10:14 AM #6
    Robson Valley
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    LaTrobe/Botany/Wardrop/wood science/PhD/1972. Surprise!!!!!
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  8. 16th January 2019, 11:50 AM #7
    Euge
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    Have a look at this wynyard. Or google the name to see other images etc to see if it fits your wood

    https://www.woodmagazine.com/materia.../yellow-poplar

    Cheers Euge
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  9. 17th January 2019, 02:05 PM #8
    Arron
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    Default

    I’ve seen the same thing - stripped off a grungy old stain and found that timber.

    I was told it was yellow sassafras (Doryohora sassafras). A common rainforest tree in these parts that had little use on its own but was often used in cheap furniture to impersonate something better.

    I try to identify a timber as a local species before a foreign species - especially if I haven’t heard of the foreign species being imported in a significant quantity.

    Cheers
    Arron
    Apologies for unnoticed autocomplete errors.
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