Wood question

[jussi]

I got a bunch of rough lumber last year and milled one of the boards today. Not too familiar with wood anatomy so I thought I ask some of the experienced members.

1. Is this maple?
2. The surface and edge seem to have a different grain pattern. Is this normal? Pic on the left is edge side.
3. Would this be considered good quality? Reason I ask is I'm making a cutting board and wanted to use this but if it's a good quality I'll save it and buy cheaper stock.

Thanks

[Tom Slick]

looks like maple to me.

Does it seem to be very hard?

[cabinetman]

Looks like a pretty decent piece of hard Maple.

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[leehljp]

I think you need to send about 10 bd ft to everyone that responds here, so that they can properly identify it for you!

[Russianwolf]

either Maple or sapwood Cherry.

Yes, the edge and face will look different, this is why people buy quartersawn oak, the quatersawn is cut so that the edge grain you show above is the face of the board.

Quality depends on what it is. If it's maple it looks nice, but nothing overly special. If it's sapwood Cherry it generally considered low desirability.

[Rob25]

You have maple... Hard or soft; I cannot tell. Hard maple seems to be more dense, and soft maple "dings" easier... Curly maple occurs more in soft maple, and birdseye happens more in hard maple, at least around these parts. I need to be looking at the end of a cut log to see the difference between hard and soft maple...

Yes, the end grain is normal for flat sawn maple.

From the picture, there are not any defects. If it is clear, no stain, no heartwood, no knots, splits, or honeycomb, then I would consider it a normal select grade maple board....

[JimD]

I do not want to be controversial but could this be beech? The edge looks like beech to me. I have not seen that pattern in maple. Maple is not one of my favorites but I've made one bedroom set out of it and a few other things. I also used beech for some kitchen drawers. It is similar to hard maple.

If the board is cherry, it is one of our most expensive domestic hardwoods, at least where I live. If it is maple (or beech), it is one of the less expensive. If you local supplier has ash or something else less common, it might be cheaper. But ring porus woods (ash, oak, walnut (really walnut is semi-ring porus) are not a good choice for a cutting board (because they absorb things deeply into the wood where you can't clean it). Of the woods suitable for a cutting board, I think maple would be the least expensive. Other woods are not hard enough or too porus.

Jim

[woodturner]

I
1. Is this maple?

From the picture, it appears to be Sycamore.

The key to the identification is the first picture - that "stippled" pattern is characteristic of American Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis). Here are some links containing pictures that show the same grain structure as your sample:

Sycamore info

Sycamore three quarter view photo


Face and edge views of Sycamore

[Russianwolf]

after looking at hobbithouse's pics of all three suggestions, I'd go with maple as there are pic of identical looks.

[cabinetman]

after looking at hobbithouse's pics of all three suggestions, I'd go with maple as there are pic of identical looks.

I agree 100%, as there is a good selection there. It looks like the Maple I use.


.

[Rob25]

This is the maple I cut today. Its hard to see the end grain; I need to figure out how to turn off the flash.

[Rob25]

More pictures... The edge of my bench is soft maple. Again its still hard to see in the pictures...

[jussi]

Thanks for all the input guys. I don't have alot of experience with a variety of wood and have never used beech or sycamore. So I wouldn't even know how to compare it. I ripped it with a new Freud rip blade and it went through like butta. And this is on a 1.75HP saw. I've heard stories of hard maple being really to cut so my initial thinking is it's not.

Rob, those pics look alot like my sample so I'm thinking it probably is soft maple. It's 8/4 stock, 10-12 inches wide, so I'm thinking it would be smarter to save it and just but some thinner less expensive stock.

On a side note I plan on making a few cutting boards and wanted to play around with different species. This first one will be purple heart and maple. Are there some that are recommended and some to stay away from. I already plan to skip Walnut due to allergies some may have with it. I have alot of scrap Mahogony, ash, teak and some Sapele. Are those ok?

[woodturner]

have never used beech or sycamore.

The problem is that the woods are similar and are often mis-identified, even commercially. Sycamore is sometimes sold as maple or beech.

If you look at the hobbithouse pictures, the differences are shown.

Beech has a similar stipling pattern to Sycamore, but it is more elongated, unlike your sample:
Beech has elongated stipling

Maple can have bird's eyes, which are different:
Birds eye maple is shown on this page

Without a magnified view of the end grain, though, we can't identify your sample as Sycamore with 100% accuracy.

If you are interested in learning more about how to identify wood species, I highly recommend the Bruce Hoadley book "Identifying Wood".

[Russianwolf]

jussi, as mentioned earlier, stay away from woods with open pores (ash, oak, most walnut, etc.) since in the raw they will be able to collect bacteria. If you were to put a finish on it, they would be okay but ONLY as DECORATIVE pieces.

Woods that are easy to work with will be tight grained woods like Maple. no pores to collect bacteria.

Oily woods like teak are good, but can be a pain to glue up because of the oils.


As far as allergies go. I've never heard of anyone having a reaction from using a wood cutting board. Only from eating the nuts/fruits from the trees. So don't be overly concerned there.

Avoid poison Ivy. (seriously, some have made turned pens from it)