Comments on: Wood Identification Guide

By: K.A.

K.A. — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 20:53:44 +0000

Hi Eric & community! I found this lovely piece of wood and was hoping to use it for a cutting board. It has a beautiful live edge. Thank you!!!

By: Ote

Ote — Sun, 11 Jan 2026 08:52:00 +0000

In reply to Nigel F. Almost definitely rubberwood

By: Mandy

Mandy — Tue, 04 Nov 2025 00:26:02 +0000

In reply to Aytaç Kececi. It looks like my floor and that is French Oak, they told me.

By: Hannah Turner

Hannah Turner — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 01:51:00 +0000

Can anyone tell me what kind of wood this is by the pictures. It is very heavy and solid. It is made into a lamp very vintage I believe!

By: Kathy

Kathy — Fri, 05 Sep 2025 21:02:29 +0000

In reply to Philistia. Since you are in Minnesota it could be Virginia Mountain Mint or Wild Mint.

By: Sarah Tennant

Sarah Tennant — Tue, 02 Sep 2025 21:01:36 +0000

In reply to Philistia. I'm definitely no expert, but as an Australian, 'peppermint' rings the eucalyptus bell for me. Was the bark big thin shaggy pieces? Were there long, thin, dry leaves anywhere near it? Look up eucalyptus trees/gum trees and see if that seems plausible. It has a mentholated smell and the wood is pale like that.

By: Nigel F

Nigel F — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 00:07:58 +0000

Can anyone help me confirm this wood type of this chair? Based on my reading here I think it would be a maple, but the fact that the rays seem to be evenly distributed both horizontally and vertically makes me unsure. I’m in Australia, but I know we import a lot of US timber.

By: Wendy Birbano

Wendy Birbano — Sun, 17 Aug 2025 14:53:50 +0000

I brought this duck at a thrift store and would love to know what type of wood this is. It is very heavy.

By: Ruben

Ruben — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 10:43:40 +0000

Hello, I bought this wood table from an antiques dealer who believed it to be teak but wasn’t sure. I’m not sure about any finish. Any help appreciated.

By: Philistia

Philistia — Thu, 12 Jun 2025 02:18:30 +0000

I found this branch in my sister's yard, it didn't have a smell until I stripped it of its bark. Now it has a woodsy peppermint smell to it. It was subtle (sorry not a good speller), when I started to sand it down the smell got stronger. It smells like earth, peppermint and something I can't identify. Does anyone know what type of wood this might be?

By: Patrick

Patrick — Thu, 22 May 2025 22:18:57 +0000

In reply to Ferry. Araracanga

By: Stephen

Stephen — Mon, 19 May 2025 21:05:54 +0000

In reply to Ferry. Looks like IPE

By: Nathan

Nathan — Mon, 12 May 2025 17:15:30 +0000

In reply to Martin Pavser. Appreciate the idea. I'm now fairly sure it's Mahuhu/Muhuhu or African Sandalwood. Just coming back in case this is useful to anyone else. Cheers.

By: Ferry

Ferry — Thu, 10 Apr 2025 21:30:48 +0000

Hello, I just found a bundle of tropical hardwood flooring from a local restore. I’m having trouble pinning down exactly what it is. Colors of the boards range of brown to a much more red color. On the bottom they are marked “Perecchi”. The wood was very difficult to plane but produced a glossy finish with an almost reflective texture.

The wood sinks in water, and some rough calculations put the density at about 900kg/m3.

Shaving when placed in water lightly tinted it after a while, but seemed to produce much more tint in denatured alcohol.

Freshly planed/cut wood fluoresces a pale green color under UV light, but no reaction from the areas that hadn’t been planed. In addition the alcohol extract had a stronger reaction to UV.

The wood did not have a particularly distinct odor when being worked .

Thank you for your time.

By: Jason korth

Jason korth — Mon, 07 Apr 2025 15:00:32 +0000

Does anyone know what type of wood this is

By: Aytaç Kececi

Aytaç Kececi — Fri, 04 Apr 2025 15:15:39 +0000

Hello. I have this wood. But do you know which tree this wood belongs to on the site? If you know, I would be very happy if you could help me.

By: Eric

Eric — Mon, 24 Mar 2025 04:43:53 +0000

In reply to Andrei.

Assuming that you’ve got the ID correct down to the genus Planchonella, this is a perfect example where reasoning and probabilities would be of much more practical use than the minutiae of wood ID. Because it’s quite difficult (in many cases, impossible with our current tools/knowledge) to ID wood down to a species level. What would be a more practical question is to attempt to find out where this company was located, if they had a habit of using local versus imported woods, and what woods might’ve been available at the time and place you mentioned.

Keating and Bolza’s book “Characteristics, Properties, and Uses of Timbers: South-east Asia, Northern Australia, and the Pacific” covers 5 Planchonella species that were in commerce in the past, and might be a good place to start. Currently, I’ve not yet added an of these species to the site…

By: Andrei

Andrei — Sat, 22 Mar 2025 10:38:49 +0000

Good morning, Eric! I really need your experience. About 30 years ago Japanese table tennis company used unknown wood to make blades. It has white/beige colour with dark stripes. Some people called this “planchonella”. But there are more than 100 types of this branch. Now we want to make a replica of this blade, but we need to identify this wood. If you have any idea, please, help. With deep respect.

By: Hobbiest

Hobbiest — Sun, 09 Mar 2025 18:10:18 +0000

In reply to Kendra Robinson. I think Chestnut

By: John A.

John A. — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 04:53:36 +0000

In reply to Matt Reeves. I too am saying that’s Walnut, based upon the difference in the heartwood/sapwood and the fact that it has a grey cast to it.