Wood Id: What wood is this? Figured Goncalo Alves?

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jrista

jrista

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I've used a piece of this wood before, which came from the same 5lb grab bag. I was not entirely sure what it was before, but it is a beautiful wood, and this one seems to be even more figured than the last. The figure has a notably three dimensional effect, to the point where looking at the most figured surfaces, the eye has a hard time recognizing what its looking at...you can't really tell its a flat surface, but you can't truly see any particular three dimensional structure, even though it doesn't look flat. The grain color seems to be very similar to goncalo alves, and the grain seems similar, however there are aspects of the grain, notably these wavy bright lines that cross perpendicular to the main grain, that make me wonder if it is indeed goncalo alves, or something else.

This wood pairs well with darker woods, and goes well with both chrome, gunmetal and gold, and I am interested in trying out some segmenting with it. I'd love a positive ID, as I'd love to get some more.

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I selected your pic and did a google search for the image.
The most frequent return was for essential oil diffusers made of Rosewood.
So, it's a possibility.
 
Ok, yeah, I wondered about the open grain. Its an...orange-brown. I need to try and get some better photos, posted on here, they don't look as good as they did on the phone screen. I need to use my DSLR to get some higher quality photos with better light. I don't think its Padauk, either, as I've compared the padauk blanks I have with this, and they seem quite different. The Padauk tends to be more reddish with a slight orangy tint, this is brownish-orange. There are those crossing wavy grain lines, whatever they are, that also don't seem to be an aspect of Padauk...
 
jrista said:
Ok, yeah, I wondered about the open grain. Its an...orange-brown. I need to try and get some better photos, posted on here, they don't look as good as they did on the phone screen. I need to use my DSLR to get some higher quality photos with better light. I don't think its Padauk, either, as I've compared the padauk blanks I have with this, and they seem quite different. The Padauk tends to be more reddish with a slight orangy tint, this is brownish-orange. There are those crossing wavy grain lines, whatever they are, that also don't seem to be an aspect of Padauk...
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FWIW, Padauk will turn browner over time, but it's usually darker than what you have here in my experience. The description fits for East Indian Rosewood, but that is also usually darker than what you have.
 
Is there more than one variety of Padauk? I guess its possible its just figured, and maybe a different cut. It seems to be a lot more porous than other padauk blanks I have.
 
jrista said:
Is there more than one variety of Padauk? I guess its possible its just figured, and maybe a different cut. It seems to be a lot more porous than other padauk blanks I have.
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A quote from a Google search says: "You'll find padauk in India, Indochina, the South Pacific, West Africa, and even southern Florida." With that much difference in locations, there has to be varieties.
 
KLJ said:
It reminds me of a piece of bubinga that I have.
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Thanks for the thought. I think I'm down to a tossup between bubinga and goncalo alves. I have some other goncalo, and its about as similar to that, as bubinga...

PreacherJon said:
Red Palm
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I'm pretty sure its not a palm. I have a few types of palm, and they hav ethose hard rodlike structures, then just a bunch of punky pulp around them. This is definitely a hardwood...and its really beautiful stuff! I made a pen out of another blank of this a while back as a gift for a friend, and its incredibly beautiful wood. Really wish I could figure out what! :p I'd buy more, if I knew what it was.
 
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