Thread: Timber ID - tongue and groove cladding and architrave

my guess is that the light one is Vic Ash or Tas Oak. The brown one would be western red cedar by how close the grain is

I thought that ash would be heavier.


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The only other option that I can think of is Oregon but the dry end grain does not look quite right for it as it looks more like a hardwood. Others may be able to provide advice on what the timber is.

I agree with wood Collector

Was Oregon a common cladding timber?

What is it good for? I've got a bit of this stuff floating around and I'm trying to work out a way to utilise it.


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I say cedar and vic ash too. No Oregon in it. Vic ash can vary quite a bit in colour and weight.


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It doesn't have the same warm colour as Oregon.


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You may get a better response if you post pics of the same pieces in your photos. In the first pic I would agree with others that the two pieces on the left look like Vic Ash and the one on the right looks like Oregon. If these came from a building 70 years or older I'd feel even more comfortable about that identification. There was a time when all Oregon was imported from the US. It exhibits much tighter growth rings and straighter grain than the Southern Hemisphere grown product and was used fairly extensively for fix out in houses prior to WW2.

The second pic shows two pieces of timber that are totally unalike and not the same two pieces shown in the first pic. To make things even more difficult one piece appears to have been cut with an extremely fine toothed blade, or sanded, while the other appears much more roughly cut. The third pic definitely looks like Oregon, is apparently the same piece on the right in pic one. I guess this is the timber you only have one piece of? The forth pic appears to be the left hand piece from pic one and is again consistent with Vic Ash.

It's going to be pretty hard to positively identify what you have from the pics and description supplied. I wouldn't be surprised if you have a mixture of Vic Ash and Cypress weatherboards. Is there anyone knowledgeable that you can take some samples to locally?

Thanks for the response. I wasn't sure how best to present the timber so you guys could ID it... I'll do my best to explain the photos.

Photo 1: (left to right). Architrave, cladding and a random board.
The architrave and the cladding are the same timber. The upward facing edges on all three show end grain that had been cut and lightly sanded.

Photo 2: same cladding timber, this piece cracks, so I wet one edge (left piece) to show the colour variation when wet.

Photo 3: the random board. This is the end grain, you can see that it's been joined with another piece where the grain direction changes in the middle. It's the same piece from photo one, but I've wet it.

Photo 4: the cladding sanded back and wet a little this is the flat side of the cladding not the end grain.




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Does it matter too much on what it is? I make things from timber that I have little clue as to what it actually is. Doesn't stop me making things with it. What do you plan to do with it???


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I like to know what i'm working with, so as I use it and work out the pros and cons of the different timbers I can then seek them out for future projects.

Right now i'm looking for a complimentary timber to go with some redgum to make an end-grain cutting board... I don't want to use something that's significantly softer as I want to ensure an even wear over time.

If i've got soft woods i'll use them for other projects, like picture frames, cheese boards, shelves etc.

Yep, make sense! The vic ash may be ok. I would look at either claret ash or maple as a contrast to the red gum. Red gum may be a bit harsh on the knives though?


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That's why I was going to do and endgrain rather than a long grain... I've also got some black wattle (1000x150x75), I could use that for the red instead of the redgum.


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