What wood is this please?

[davidpbo]

Anyone any ideas?
I wondered whether it might be balsa
It is quite light.

Sorry about image quality. Done on mobile

 

[tillergirl]

Iroko from the appearance but slightly unsure when you say it is quite light - which iroko is not.

 

[PlankWalker]

Iroko But shouldn't be very light.

 

[rob2]

It could be one of the mahogany substitutes, some of which are light both in terms of density and colour.

Rob.

 

[philwebb]

WOOD TYPE

If it is very light and you can break a bit off with your hand or indent it with your finger,
it is balsa wood. It looks like parana to me. If it was iroko it would be a bit heavier and harder, although the grain is similar. You could try your local wood shop.
Regards, Phil

 

[Mad Pad]

If it's very light balsa.
Might be Weathered Iroko but grain is a bit too straight(Iroko has a very twisted grain).Cut into it or plane a bit.Iroko is yellow/teak colour.
On the other hand it may be weathered sapeele me thinks because of the straight grain.Again cut in or plane,sapeele is pink.

 

[KAL]

Sapele has stripes. Could be?

 

[cliffdale]

Looking at the grain structure, my bet would be on pink meranti.

 

[davidpbo]

Should have said the piece is about 80mm by 12mm if that helps.

 

[VicS]

Anyone any ideas?
I wondered whether it might be balsa
It is quite light.

Sorry about image quality. Done on mobile

Balsa is easy to recognise from its very low density and softness ( despite being technically a hardwood) ρ = 0.1 - 0.2 g/cm³

Densities of many woods listed here: http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/wood-density-d_40.html

My guess , from the appearance, would have been a mahogany substitute such as Luan. Common at one time for window boards etc

 

[doug748]

I think cliffdale is on to a winner with Meranti.

I always think it should be an Italian sports car though.

 

[Daydreamer]

Luan, Meranti and many other names are Shorea species and sub species with a very wide range of densities and colours although in my experience there is usually some pink tinge present. It varies from good quality joinery hardwood down to dire. Its pretty horrible stuff to use as well.

There are plenty of other candidates from the far east and Africa, Obeche used to be used a lot , Poplar is quite a decent timber as well and currently in favour. My best guess though is that it is Idigbo

I think if it were Balsa a piece with that grain structure would be very light.

 

[daveyw]

http://www.wallpaperandborders.co.uk/wallpaper-shop/index.php?main_page=popup_image&pID=2360 Very difficult to tell from a photo but could be ash

 

[VicS]

I dont think its ash. Ash is a light yellowish colour with a long straight grain.

I would be interesting to know what colour the OP's plank is below the surface or if varnished

 

[fergie_mac66]

meranti

Looking at the grain structure, my bet would be on pink meranti.

+1 looks very like meranti edit some planks can be very light coloured .. usually light in weight . not expensive to buy

 

[Cloven]

+ 1 for Meranti as it weathers like this. You would know if it is Balsa as its really soft.

Meranti is probably the commonest "hardwood" available from normal timber merchants - Builder Centre; Jewsons; Rembrant etc as it tends to have few knots, be very straight and is also fairly cheap compared to other more resilient hardwoods such as Iroko; Oak etc. However, it is fairly soft and when it weathers the grain tends to lift very easily. I would not have thought it was a great wood for use around boats unless for internal use. If so, its much better for framing etc than say Pine or Spruce.

I use it a lot for medium quality joinery work for the reasons above. For a while I had a lot left over from a job that did not happen and was going to use it to make a cockpit floor grating but in the end I used it for other jobs and plan to use Iroko when I finally get round to making that cockpit grating!

 

[daveyw]

I dont think its ash. Ash is a light yellowish colour with a long straight grain.

I would be interesting to know what colour the OP's plank is below the surface or if varnished

I agree but as ash ages it tends to go grey. A fresh cut would reveal the true colour. A good cut of ash would tend to be long straight grain but it depends on the quality(straightness) of the tree and the angle of the cut.

 

[ianat182]

From my model aircraft days that piece is balsa if soft or probably obeche if hard; utile might also be another candidate if it is a boat part.

ianat182

 

[Perry]

Could be afzelia

 

[Grajan]

Could be Idigbo another of the Mahogany substitutes. a lot of the double glazing firms used it for finishings but it does yellow very quickly and is soft There are better timbers out there but getting them in a decent length /width can be difficult. Gilmour and Aitken in Dumbarton still supply boatbuilding quality timber or did up until a few years ago.