Thread: Guess What? Timber Identification Again :)

Rowie, do you work nights or just never sleep???

Originally Posted by Sigidi

Rowie, do you work nights or just never sleep???

Nah mate, I am out in the shed till Iate(semi industrial zone3)
and besides, INSOMNIA has been a very close friend of mine for as long as I can remember.......OH,.&there's an evil monkey that lives in my closet.

Originally Posted by jackliveshere

Any tips on some good sources of pallets or other assorted packing crates?

Cheers,

WILL

Check the bigger industrial suppliers/buyers that get stuff like steel,car parts, paint, heavy machinery etc for bigger stuff. Even stone cutters, the list goes on. You will get some nice Oak, beech, birch, maple, sassafras, etc and will stumble upon a goldmine every now and then, walnut etc. About 10 years ago I picked up a few bits(I still have them) of what I think is rosewood from brazil or africa, dunno, can't remember where or what I got it from, know it came from a packing crate of sorts Dont forget, its the rough, defective logs they use for crates etc, which can have lots of figure and often sequential boards. I have made many a table using the bearers as legs & the boards for the rails & top

Originally Posted by jackliveshere

Hey Guys,

I've got some recycled timber that I've come across recently & I was wondering if anyone could help me out with the identification?? I honestly really suck at this ID stuff, and I am constantly amazed at the level of timber knowledge people have out there! Where does it all come from? Just something that's picked up over time? Anybody got any tips on what to read, techniques, whatever, in improving my timber ID skills?? I guess not just sawn timber, also working out what sort of trees are just by seeing them there. haha.

Anyway, I have three types of timbers attached. Got a feeling that the first two are the same, but they differ slightly, so I thought I'd put them there anyway. There's shots of the face & end grain of each piece. The first two are from a pallet & the third is from a shipping crate which held glass from Indonesia. I think the first two are some type of pine, and maybe the third one is one of those many species from Indonesia under the banner of Meranti??

Any help is appreciated

Cheers,

WILL

Hi WILL,
I'm not going to make any guesses on the timber type(s), as I believe so me of the best possibilities have been already mentioned by other forumates. The point or should I say, the "hint" on some of these timbers origin, is the place from where they come from. There is also a certain margin of error on this but, I have found the if timber come particularly from Indonesia, they "normally" use whatever is growing close to them, there is timbers growing in the area, are the first choice. Mainly if timber are used for boxes , pallets, etc., they will use the cheapest timber possible, and normally this mean, the less quality local stuff. There is no doubt that they can source the best woods in the world, if they so wish, but not for making pallets.
As I said, this is only one of many options to find the timber origin and name, same times works some time doesn't.
I give you a quick little example, I was given a large wooden box that was packed from Indonesia with personal items from other person(s). After I picked the box up, (dismantled in 6 panels), I didn't recognise the timber, but the box was marked with the manufacturer name. A quick Internet search gave me a location and an email address, which I use to ask the question. Not only I got the name to the wood they used on that box, but I got also a list of all the timbers that local mill uses. In no time I was offered sales by the container full. Only if I had that sort of money to invest, I would make a "killer" out of those exotic timbers, believe me!
Anyway, this is just an example, of what can be done to identify overseas timbers.

Cheers
RBTCO

Thanks RBTCO, some good tips there. Yeah there are so many varied timbers which come out of Indonesia and other SE Asia countries, so it would definitely be helpful knowing the location of where the timber was exported from. Don't know for these particular pallets as most of the dockets & related ID marks were removed. But next time I'll keep an eye out for sure.

Cheers,

WILL