Sunday, September 05, 2010

More mystery boards


As I was digging around in the shop, I came across these boards. A while back, when my buddy Dusty put the lumber up on this shelving, he mentioned (OK, complained about) how heavy they were. I thought he was being a wimp, but damn!

These boards are HEAVY.



And I'm not 100% sure what they are.


If I had to venture a guess, I would lean toward toward this being Purpleheart, or as it is sometimes called - Amaranth. (Botanical Name: Peltogyne)



So I cut a small piece from the end of one of the boards, and am sending it to the Center for Wood Anatomy Research, a department within the USDA Forest Service. I did this a few months ago and was pretty shocked at what they told me.


The last time, it took about six months to get an answer from them. If these boards turn out to be Purpleheart, it will be worth the wait. The bigger question is - what will I build with them?


3 comments:

Sister Creek Potter said...

Jamie, you gotta check this blog out:
http://whynotpotteryblog.blogspot.com/

Looks like you are doing great!

Wood It Is! said...

Gay, what a cool blog that is - thanks for sharing.

LOVE the mermaid!

John said...

Hey Jamie and anyone else following the blog. Years ago I came across this website:

http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/

It has more pictures of every species of wood imaginable, just thought I'd pass it along -- John