Baltic Mahogany

**IanW** · 27th April 2006, 09:39 AM

It really is a lucky dip trying to identify wood from a picture. IF this wood really is from the "Baltic" then, as Mikko says, it could only be Birch - there just aren't that many different trees to choose from, up there!

However, I was planing up some old salvaged hardwood on the weekend, and there were pieces of what is certainly Eucalyptus spp., that looked just like your pikkies, nice curly grain and all; they were also 'light' compared to the bits of Spotted Gum off the same pile. If you had my bits side by side with yours, and yours really are Birch, then we would probably find the Birch less dense, finer grained and with a different smell from the Euc., but superficially, they look identical. (I happen to have a bit of curly Birch I brought home from Canada, so I do know what Birch looks like, but I also have some curly Poplar, and again, you would be hard pressed to tell the difference on a quick inspection - I can tell very easily, because I labelled them with marker pen

.)

Incidentally, one of the recycled pieces I picked up was a lovely rich brown, with rowed grain, that cut quite crisply and cleanly with a handplane - very like 'real' Mahogany, but not quite as nice to work, the grain was coarser, and it had that pleasant scent characteristic of many Eucalypt species, so I didn't for even a moment think it was a stray bit of Swietenia. (It will still look very attractive as the bottom stretcher on the bench I'm making, though!)

The point is, if you are sure of the provenence of your wood, then someone from that area who knows the local species well can usually id it with a high degree of accuracy from a pic., but once it gets carted to a distant site, and you're not really sure where it grew in the first place, you are on dangerous turf. As I've said before, the number of common names like 'oak', 'ash' 'pine' 'maple' 'mahogany' etc. applied to woods from widely different families is testimony to how alike woods can be.

Sorry to make that sound like a lecture, but if you want a truly accurate identification, you either need to know with certainty where it's from, or to take it to a wood lab where someone with the expertise to check on truly diagnostic characteristics like end-grain patterns (sort of a 'fingerprint' where wood genera are concerned) and so forth.

Cheers,

**Mikko** · 27th April 2006, 03:42 PM

What Ian said.

It could well be some Eucalyptus too considering where you are living!
Birch would still be considerably lighter in weight than any Eucalyptus.
All N.European timbers excl. maples are lighter in weight than eucalypts.

Birch has basically no smell and is indeed considerably less tense than eucalypts. Also, the grain is more wavy and less pronounced.

If you take a shaving off with a sharp plane from the B side of one these boards and the timber will cut almost without a sound and then reveal considerably lighter interior....then it MAY be birch. If there are any pores visible to naked eye or the colour is as dark inside....this timber is not from N. Europe. If the plane makes a "kkkrrunch" sound, then it is probably not birch or your plane is not sharp.

Ian....using curly/masur/visa birch as a quide to identify basic or even flame birch would lead to disaster. They look completely different and even the colour and weight are way off (Visa being VERY heavy compared to common birch).
Same species, different subspecies (I do not think so but some scientists do...based only on physical characteristics) completely different appearance and most of all....PRICETAG!!!! :eek:
Visa/masur/curly birch is a bit of a religion in these parts. I love it but as 97% goes to making veneer, the prices are astronomical and in all honesty, we have some equally intersting timbers available for much less...or even free. Still I try to pick up all larger rounds of Visa I can manage to find green.

Cheers,
Mikko

**IanW** · 27th April 2006, 09:40 PM

Hi Mikko,
The only Visa I know is that bit of damn plastic in my wallet that gets me into trouble when I see desirable tools or bits of special wood at woodie shows, etc.....

My experience of Birches is with the two common species in southern Ontario (yellow: Betula alleghaniensis and white: B. papyrifera), which are usually pretty bland. Your curly/masur/visa sounds interesting - tell us more - where and how does it grow? Pic. of some, or something made from it??

And while most Eucalypts are certainly a good deal more dense than most temperate species, Mountain ash (E. regnans) has an air-dried density of about .68. Bootle gives the average density of a couple of European Birches as .67. Don't think I could tell the difference, hefting a couple of chunks in my hands!

You pretty well affirmed what I was saying, that without having the stuff in your hands to scratch 'n' sniff, identification is a fraught business. Always worth a try, but the variety of answers that come back for many of the pics posted is intersting, to say the least!

Avagooday,

**Mikko** · 27th April 2006, 10:39 PM

http://www.visaseura.com/english/index.html
Home page of "Visa" birch society. Some info, but mostly to show how bloody seriously this timber is taken here.

http://www.markkukosonen.com/index.htm
Dude who makes some pretty cool stuff out of Visa.
Check out that "memory box" and fluted oval bowl!!!

There is also a very kewl book by the same bloke on the subject.
http://www.markkukosonen.com/publications.htm
Book has both Finnish and English text...so I do recommend it highly to anyone interested in this material.

Google will give you heaps more, but these are good examples of use in Finland. I did not include any links but Visa is also used often for handles of traditional knives (puukko). Same goes for flame birch.

Oh....visa turns incredibly well and does not warp much even when turned dripping wet.

Cheers,
Mikko

**laxation** · 30th April 2006, 03:12 PM

Thanks for all this info guys.

This wood has pretty much no smell, and when I get it back from school, I will plane a bit of it and see the sound it makes.

Are there any types of asian mahogany that might come up like this?

**laxation** · 7th May 2006, 04:50 PM

MERANTI!!!

http://delta-intkey.com/wood/images/lrm.jpg

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