What type of wood is this?

edflorence · Post by **edflorence** » Mon Feb 10, 2014 1:29 pm

Looking at the "spongy" texture of the wood between the growth rings, it does appear more like redwood...also the color of the weathering and the type of cracking make me think redwood. If it is pine or doug fir a fresh cut face even in that old wood should smell a bit "resin-y" even if faintly. Redwood has a distinctive non-resinous smell, hard to describe but sort of drier. My guess is that it is a redwood board cut from a young tree before the "red" color had a chance to darken.

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Mon Feb 10, 2014 2:06 pm

No matter what the wood type is, USE a METAL DETECTOR BEFORE ya do any cutting on it.

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Mon Feb 10, 2014 4:10 pm

Measure the dimensions of the cross section (as shown). If it measures approximately 1 1/2"x 3 1/2" it is most likely fir manufactured as structural wood.

On second thought, considering your neck of the woods, it could be Southern pine, but the thin summerwood bands say fir to me.

benush26 · Post by **benush26** » Mon Feb 10, 2014 7:33 pm

I know I'm being a party pooper and taking all the fun out of this but why not just stop by a lumber mill or NON box store that sells lumber and ask.

Cedar has a very distinctive odor/fragrance, so even with a bad smeller, a fresh cut would still evoke that smell for days.

Does not look like Doug Fir and again the fragrance of a cut is distinctive.

Wow, fortuitous door bell! A friend just stopped by and I showed this to him. He was raised in the South and says it looks like Southern Yellow Pine.

Need to go and talk with him about summer plans.

Anyway, I don't really know and suggest an expert, and one non Shopsmith owner thinks SYP. But he doesn't own a Shopsmith, so what could he know about it. Yes, he is a wood worker.

wingman2010 · Post by **wingman2010** » Mon Feb 10, 2014 8:29 pm

Thanks everyone! I stopped by woodcraft but I completely forgot about the local hardwood stores. The folks at woodcraft were split on redwood vs pine. It was funny that everyone I gave it to, smelled it first!

I'm still not sure I want to salvage the deck. There's a LOT of material and I remember reading something about a woodworker who salvaged decks as homeowners built new ones. He made a lot of really beautiful items. I'm still a beginner and I don't think I'm ready for the "cleanup" the old wood needs.

Plus, my wife already yells at me for salvaging any old hardware and pieces of wood I take wherever I can get them, ex. Particle board furniture labeled for trash will get dismantled and "saved" for later use.

Is this (hoarding when it comes to woodworking) a curse anyone else lives with?

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Tue Feb 11, 2014 1:00 am

wingman2010 wrote:Thanks everyone! I stopped by woodcraft but I completely forgot about the local hardwood stores. The folks at woodcraft were split on redwood vs pine. It was funny that everyone I gave it to, smelled it first!

I'm still not sure I want to salvage the deck. There's a LOT of material and I remember reading something about a woodworker who salvaged decks as homeowners built new ones. He made a lot of really beautiful items. I'm still a beginner and I don't think I'm ready for the "cleanup" the old wood needs.

Plus, my wife already yells at me for salvaging any old hardware and pieces of wood I take wherever I can get them, ex. Particle board furniture labeled for trash will get dismantled and "saved" for later use.

Is this (hoarding when it comes to woodworking) a curse anyone else lives with?

Who says it is a curse?

If they smelled it there should not be any split between pine and redwood. Pine is very distinctive. I think the clowns do not know what fir smells like!:D After all they sell 'hard woods'.

pieceseeker · Post by **pieceseeker** » Tue Feb 11, 2014 1:52 pm

JPG40504 wrote:Ahh but it is quarter sawn the short dimension.

Yo would likely want to saw off the checked faces anyway.

Are there larger pieces?

Please explain how this is quarter sawn in the common industry accepted sense. The pattern looks like plain sawn to me.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Tue Feb 11, 2014 2:49 pm

pieceseeker wrote:Please explain how this is quarter sawn in the common industry accepted sense. The pattern looks like plain sawn to me.

Key words 'Short dimension'. The short dimension is perpendicular to the rings.

I was speaking in the board sense, not the mill sense. Any board can be cut to take advantage of that perpendicular grain albeit in small pieces. Industry sense is related to the saw mill and refers to how a log is cut.

Perhaps it is just my way of thinking, but to me a board is quarter sawn if the grain is parallel to two edges regardless of where it was last sawn. To me that is what matters when selecting a board for a project.

True quarter sawing is very wasteful and is rarely done(all boards are cut in a radial pattern so all boards have rings tangent to the outer edge). What is today referred to as quarter sawing involves quartering the log and taking alternate slices off the flat sides. Only the two initial side cuts are true quartersawn. Either way it takes more time/effort/$.

That is the way I see it!(today);) If I be out standing alone in the back 40, then so be it!

I am not responsible for the rest of the planet!:eek::D

Gene Howe · Post by **Gene Howe** » Tue Feb 11, 2014 4:15 pm

Just so you aren't lonely, I'm out there with ya, JPG.

pieceseeker · Post by **pieceseeker** » Tue Feb 11, 2014 6:09 pm

OK, good info. Now I know why they say...one man's plain is another man's quarter!