help with timber identification

**cowenan** · 9th April 2012, 12:42 AM

hi can anyone help me identify this timber.

i made a table from it and i would like to know the species

i bought the wood from ebay (victoria), i was told it was old wharf timber. it was used as decking about 50mm thick x 1400mm wide and 4m long each piece. with bolt holes.was very straight and dry and was very grey aged from weathering

it blunted two sets of blades on my thicknesser and also had a to get a new able saw blade (blunted that too). i am used to working with vic ash but this is alot denser and harder

it did sand well though and glued well too (wasnt oily)

it was alot lighter but i then put a coat of tung oil on and it darkened considerably. as you can see from the table top the timber shades vary from light to dark.

i thought it may be turpentine (which i understand is commonly used for wharf timber), but after putting on the oil i am inclined to think it is blackbutt

thanks in advance

**Scott** · 9th April 2012, 08:58 AM

I was going to say Blackbutt but not too sure. I'll wait for the expert opinion. Beautiful table by the way

**MarkInBoatshed** · 10th April 2012, 09:25 PM

Turpentine is used for piles because it resists toredo worm (the great example of this is Burmese teak). Other hardwoods are generally used for horizontal parts such as steps, bearers, etc.

If it is not Blackbutt and is very dense/heavy, it may be Brush Box, also used in marine fixtures. I know it as a dusky pink colour but I imagine the colour varies.

Wonderful table....

**pjt** · 10th April 2012, 10:29 PM

To my eye it doesn't look pink enough to be Brushbox also not red enough for turpentine, but that is based on what I have here, not sure the actual species

Pete

**rustynail** · 11th April 2012, 02:01 PM

Id back it for Blackbutt, Turps would be darker.

**Wongo** · 11th April 2012, 02:15 PM

Blackbutt has my vote. Beautiful table

**cowenan** · 11th April 2012, 11:27 PM

thanks for the responses

i still have half of the timber left untouched and i am going to make a side table out of this. i will run it through the thicknesser on the weekend and blunt another set of knives! and i will take a few pictures of the timber in its current form and also after it has been planed (unoiled) to see if that helps

**Benmanang** · 14th April 2012, 01:14 PM

Not turpentine which would be darker and some red in it, not brush box which would have less grain feature and a pink tinge. The last pic shows feature that is very close to some weathered blackbutt that I a currently working with, so that's my guess.

Thread: help with timber identification

Thread Tools

Search Thread

help with timber identification

Blackbutt maybe.

Similar Threads

Timber identification

Please help with timber identification

Timber identification, please...!

Timber identification!

Timber Identification

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions