Thread: Help identifying species

I think you will have to supply more revenant info for the timber id such as end grain and whatever else you can provide.

Looks like New Guinea Rosewood to me.

NGR is definitely a possibility but we'll need better pics to have more confidence. NGR is one of those timbers you can pick by smell from across the room (fortunately it's a nice smell), but that only helps if you know what it smells like

Thanks for the responses, it helps a lot. I have had a bit more of a look at the descriptions on NGR and it seems to fit, also it certainly does have a most beautiful scent so I am thinking that it may be.

If it is NGR (Pterocarpus indicus), then the claim it's from the eastern states is rather dubious! It quite likely came to you via an eastern state, and it's even possible it came from northern Australia because the species does occur naturally here, but to the best of my knowledge, little if any is harvested commercially.

Whatever the original source, if it's P. indicus, you've got some excellent wood to play with - good to work with, reasonably stable, & finishes very nicely. It commonly has rowed grain that will test your planing technique, but it scrapes well (and there's always abrasives if all else fails ). And it does have a pleasant odour when worked, which is very recognisable when you know it, but quite unlike any of the other native woods commonly called "rosewoods" like Dysoxylon and Acacia rhodoxylon...

Cheers,