What is this wood?

[jerickson]

I grabbed a piece of wood out of a firewood pile yesterday (with permission, of course), and am REALLY pleased with how it looks. I love it. I have no idea what it is though. It smelled like wet dog + a little bit of poop, cut very nicely, and has ray pattern in parts. It also created a black stain on the lathe and where the wood touched the metal of the chuck. Could it be some type of oak? I'm in Kentucky, if that helps.

[MichaelMouse]

Yup. The rays and the ring porous configuration confirm the acid smell. Oak.

[jerickson]

I was thinking oak, but the black lines in the grain was throwing me off. Have you seen that in oak before? I don't think it's spalting because there was no sign of rot at all, and the black lines are in a regular pattern.

[Jim Pilsner]

From part of your description I would have said you turned wet dog poop =D
From the rest of the description and those pictures, I'd say white oak too.

[Arlin Eastman]

Looks like Oak and pretty nice lines in it too.

Arlin

[robo hippy]

Probably oak of some sort, and there are all sorts of Oak... Lemon juice will take out the metal stains. Works on your hands as well. Might work on the lathe, but haven't tried that one. I keep one of the concentrated lemon shaped bottles by the lathe.

robo hippy

[MichaelMouse]

jerickson said:

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I was thinking oak, but the black lines in the grain was throwing me off. Have you seen that in oak before? I don't think it's spalting because there was no sign of rot at all, and the black lines are in a regular pattern.

---

I make it as one of the "red" oaks because of the small ray figure. Whites' rays are usually larger and more dramatic. You have several oaks in Kentucky. http://www2.ca.uky.edu/forestry/UKTree.pdf

http://www.wood-database.com/?s=oak Have a good time.

Oak heartwood takes forever to spalt, while the sapwood is gone in a year or two.

[jerickson]

Thanks, MM and Robo. I went back for more, but couldn't find any more sizable pieces with the black lines in it. This bowl came from a piece of wood that was split, so it was easy to spot the unique grain. The others I got were sawn. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some nice surprises. :-)

It's really fun having a chainsaw again so I can raid wood piles. I've missed this!

[iclark]

If it is red oak (and you have not sealed it with finish), then you can put your lips up against the end grain and blow air through it as if it were a straw with a sponge stuffed in it.