Another 'What timber is this?' thread

[scottbr]

I picked up some drawers on the side of the road yesterday.
It's rare now to find solid timber getting tossed out - so much stuff being sold (and tossed) these days is chipboard.
This would not be anything special, but I'm curious.
Probably made in the 1930s?
The drawers sides are all straight and clean.
Timber is pretty light.
I was surprised the bottoms of the drawers were not ply but are 4mm solid.
I'm thinking I'll use it for4 some practice boxes.
I await your knowledgeable responses.
Scott

[TassieRob]

Most of the boards in photo 2 look like Blackwood to me.

[elanjacobs]

I'm leaning more towards Fijian Mahogany (or other similar plantation Mahogany-ish timber) with the reversing grain.

[riverbuilder]

Fijian cedar, used heaps of it in the ‘90’s
although with that creamy sap lines through it in picture 3, could just be old school pacific maple or a variation of meranti

[auscab]

Wow . Their Victorian period drawers . Cedar was commonly used . If the drawer fronts are Mahogany then it could be a the lighter Cuban cedar as used in the UK . And if the drawer fronts are Red Cedar as well then its an Aussie piece and most likely and the sides are Aussie cedar . They look like the Aussie type. In Aussie pieces Cedar was mostly used in drawer sides , for secondary timbers, up until 1850/ 60 . Then they went to Red pine . 1880 was roughly the end of the larger commercial harvesting of ARC. And when the furniture producers stopped using it for secondary timbers all together.

[scottbr]

Thanks all.
The drawer fronts have a thin, dark veneer on them. Perhaps mahogany veneer? The timber behind that seems a bit like pine.
Looking at them and comparing them to other stuff I have lying around, the drawer side and back do feel like cedar.
The locks are gone, but there are still those little brass keyhole surrounds that I salvaged for no particular reason.
I'll tidy up the salvaged timber from the sides and backs use them for some practice on dovetails.

Drawer front 1.jpgDrawer front 2.jpg

[scottbr]

All done. Ready for practice. Seems like nice timber to work with. Glad I saved it from landfill. I'll trim the drawer bottoms up later.

Drawers final.jpg

[GraemeCook]

I'm leaning more towards Fijian Mahogany (or other similar plantation Mahogany-ish timber) with the reversing grain.

Wouldn't the apparent age of the drawers preclude the use of plantation timber, Elan?

Secondly, that molding for the bottom rebate is quite distinctive - I do not recall seeing it before - Is there a clue there?

Bottom Molding 1.jpg Bottom Molding 2.jpg

[Toymaker Len]

That veneer looks like red cedar and the wood behind it looks like hoop pine.

[elanjacobs]

Wouldn't the apparent age of the drawers preclude the use of plantation timber, Elan?

Secondly, that molding for the bottom rebate is quite distinctive - I do not recall seeing it before - Is there a clue there?

Didn't even consider the age
We had that same moulding for drawer bottoms at trade school 15 years ago