# Please help!! What is this wood species??



## Tankridxxl (Mar 4, 2019)

I was wondering if anyone could help me to identify this wood species, I live in northern Indiana. Thank you so much!!


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## Tankridxxl (Mar 4, 2019)

This tree was cut within the last 2 weeks, if that helps!


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Hey, Tank; welcome.
More info would be helpful. Do you have pictures of the tree in leaf, or at least what it looked like before it was logged?
A close up shot of the bark? Pictures of seed pods from the tree? Is it deciduous or evergreen?


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Have no idea. Out here I'd guess ash. Looks like a nice prospect for harvesting. Needs to be stored a little better. It also looks like a Western tree, a black locust.


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## Tankridxxl (Mar 4, 2019)

No pictures of the tree in leaf, or what it looked like before it was cut down, no seed pods. The tree is deciduous! I will try to get a close up of the bark later on today. This tree was in a friends yard, but they didn't know the species either. They are letting me have the tree for free. I think it would make great bowl blanks for turning, or milled lumber. Thanks for your help so far!


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## Nickp (Dec 4, 2012)

My first impression is oak...


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

Looks like a poplar limb I cut awhile back.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

The thing is, Tank, if it came from a residential yard there's an excellent chance it's an ornamental species, not a native wild species. Could be anything from a Tulip tree to a Magnolia or???
This isn't a bad thing; it just means that you need more info from the owners... what the flowers looked like, colour, and time of blossoming would be a great start.
You may even have hit the motherload of free wood!


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## woodknots (Mar 7, 2012)

I'm going to go with what @Nickp said - oak. Look at the dried leaves around the trunk in the second picture.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

That's assuming the leaves are actually from the same tree, Nick.
A nice clean closeup of the bark would be really helpful. Cutting a thin round off the end of the trunk, and sanding it till it's nice and clean/smooth will also be a helpful closeup pic.
Going into any of the backyards around here (1/2 acre lots) would be like a trip to a botanical garden in terms of the amazing variety of ornamental tree species planted out.
Maples alone would be astounding if you treat each different A. japonica as separate species! We have at least a 1/2 doz. ourselves not including the Big Leaf maples.


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## Tankridxxl (Mar 4, 2019)

Here are a couple more close ups of the grain and bark, hopefully this helps. The leaves you see in the picture were from trees that were closer to the road, not this one.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

The pictures I checked for oak and yellow poplar had rougher bark than that plus the white oak seemed slightly darker. You may need to slice some off and do like Dan suggested. Also, taking a piece and cutting iut into a rectangle then measuring dimensions and weighing it would give specific gravity which could help too.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Doesn't it have to be dried first for specific gravity? Same for hardness?


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Thanks for the updated pics, Tank, but I think you'l need to do something like scraping the end grain to actually make it visible. Yeh, I know; picky picky...


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## jj777746 (Jan 17, 2015)

Looks like Silky Oak or Queensland Maple as it's also called,but probably not grown over there.


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## Tankridxxl (Mar 4, 2019)

I appreciate all the input! I will try to cut a chunk out, and scrape the grain to get a better visual. Thanks again!
Updates to come!


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

DaninVan said:


> Doesn't it have to be dried first for specific gravity? Same for hardness?


Youy can dry it in a microwave. There are probably youtube videos on doing it.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

I'll repost this for anyone who's not already bookmarked it...
https://www.wood-database.com/
Essential reference tool!


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

There's an *updated version* ...
https://www.wood-database.com/wood-finder/


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Wow!! The new version is interactive; excellent for IDing wood species.
(I just took it for a road test)


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## sreilly (May 22, 2018)

It's just a guess but it does look like white oak to me but then there's very little to work with.


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## CharleyL (Feb 28, 2009)

Barb,

I just looked back through this post to try to see exactly why you had the problem that you did, and then looked at Amazon for your model of Makita router to learn more about it. 

For edging your projects I would have used the fixed base on the router and not the plunge base. I would also have made and installed an offset base to give me more router base surface, so it wouldn't be so easy to tip the router while doing the edging. Something like the base plate in this video, but I would prefer making it from clear Lexan so I could also see through it. The extra side handle helps you keep the router at 90 deg when doing the edging. You would hold this extended part of the base down and toward the center of your sign as you route the edge detail around all four edges of the sign to keep the router from tipping.






Another option for edging would be to use a router in a table. This would positively keep the router at 90 degrees to the work.

A plunge base with the plunge stops is great for routing the letters of your signs. You can even preset the stops for several different cutting depths. but a plunge base is not the best choice for trying to rout the sign edging, and the base on your router is so small that it's easy to tip the router as you try to rout the edges of your signs, causing it to dig in and ruin the edge. Since you have both bases, you should learn the benefits of both and use each where it will give you the best advantage. Also make or buy a bigger base plate for use with the fixed base when doing the edges.

I also made a larger oval base for the plunge base of my DWP611 that has extra handles (cabinet knobs) on the extremes of the oval base that I use when routing lettering in signs. Rockler sells a similar base #59811, but their's is a larger round base. The two handles make it easier to free hand guide the bit to follow the lines of the pattern.



Now, how about explaining in detail, maybe even with pictures, what is wrong with the plunge base of your DeWalt DWP611. Maybe I can help you fix it. Consider sending me a PM for this.

Charley


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## TenGees (Sep 12, 2012)

Charley, I think that you meant to post this in Barb's thread: https://www.routerforums.com/lobby/137955-someone-tell-me-again-why-makita-so-great.html#post2002505


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## woodfella (Dec 15, 2009)

*Re: Wood Species*

With just a casual look at the end grain, and the fact that it is a midwestern tree. I would agree with Tom and say that it looks like a green ash.
One way to zero in on that theory, would be to closely look at the bark and see if you see small (3/16") D shaped holes spaced about 2" to 3" apart. If you do, it was likely killed by the Emerald Ash Borer that has killed an estimated 5o million ash trees in the Midwest. Good hardwood species with a somewhat boring grain pattern. It's what the majority of baseball bats are made of.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Jim; does the wood have a distinctive smell when it's freshly cut?


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## AJerry (May 2, 2012)

*Sumac*

Staghorn sumac.






Your bark and looking at the grain end coloring my guess is sumac.
Not good for much of anthing but quick burning.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

The bark pattern looks the same. The ash just previously pictured has flakes of bark. This sumac picture has very minor ridges that almost look weathered and eroded just like the OP's picture.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

It _does_ look very similar. 
What was the diameter of that log? Our Sumac is considerably scrawnier than what I assumed that log to be(?). It's also a shrub rather than a single trunk, although I understand it sometimes grows as a small tree.
Rhus typhina - Plant Finder


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## AJerry (May 2, 2012)

The log in the picture was about the same size as the one in Tankridxxl's picture. sumac's will vary in trunk size due water intake and sun. They will grow and clump together and may develop as shrub.i have a good number in my front tree line so i've had to deal with them. A lot, hard to get rid of.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

The nursery doesn't really tell you how _much_ they like to colonize...


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

I bought some Siberian elms years ago that were supposed to get about 15' or so. One that the in laws planted in their front yard must be about 50' with a 16" plus diameter trunk. Apparently they do much better here than in Siberia.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

*Climate Change/Change of Climate*



Cherryville Chuck said:


> I bought some Siberian elms years ago that were supposed to get about 15' or so. One that the in laws planted in their front yard must be about 50' with a 16" plus diameter trunk. Apparently they do much better here than in Siberia.


Heh...most things do!


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