Thread: Identify timber used in this coffee table please

3rd picture looks odd.
Blackwood has darker heartwood and lighter sapwood like first 2 pictures, but that is just a stab in the dark if your location is Australia.

Originally Posted by artful bodger

3rd picture looks odd.

Thanks. Yep, as I said the 3rd pic shows the top of the coffee table when I was halfway through sanding the previous finish back, hence half of it is dark (unsanded) and half is light (sanded). 1st two photos are after the whole top had been sanded back.

Can we get something a bit closer up? Maybe some endgrain too?

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closer photos and endgrain ^^^

I don't think it's Blackwood, looks more Mahogany-ish to me

My guess is Toona spp, but the resolution of your images is still poor & so it's just a guess based on the overall grain pattern. If it is Toona ("red cedar") it will be soft enough to indent with a fingernail. The "two tone" effect is because the boards have been cut from a small diameter log & have lots of sapwood on them. I'm not sure how realistic the colour rendition is, but wood from younger trees tends to be very pale compared with heartwood from mature trees.

Leaving sapwood on boards increases your lumber yield from the log & is a very tempting thing to do, but is usually not a good idea because sapwood has quite different shrinkage rates from heartwood, which can cause structural issues (looks like there is a problem with the glue-lines on your table top). Sapwood is also generally more susceptible to insect & fungal attack .

It strikes me the top is somewhat out of character with the rest of the piece (which I suspect is man-made material) & looks rather like someone jazzed up the original chest??

Cheers,

I agree with Ian.
Toona Calantas.
Calantas or New Guinea Cedar.
Looks and smells a lot like Australian Cedar but is overall paler and is a lot more furry when worked.
Regards
Pete.