Dark red-orange sweet smelling wood

[petertay15]

Grabbed a board from my stash for a small project. I'm sure I never bought, so I don't know what species it might be. Maybe a friend put it there.

Straight grain, open pores, similar to QS oak, but it smells SWEET, like chocolate or vanilla (I know, those two oders are not similar.) Very heavy and dense. Deep dark red/orange; as dark as black walnut, but not brown. When sanded, the sandpaper looks like it has carrot dust on it. A hand plane glides smoothly when going with the grain, but roughs up the surface when going against the grain.

No need to ask for a photo. It would look like a dark board.

[woodcutter199]

Sounds like Padauk. Do not mix it with a lighter wood, the dust cross pollinates really bad

[packerguy®]

Thats it.

I agree about the dust.....its like its dye. I made a box that was Paduak and Curly Maple and the Paduak bled into the CM like its was dye when Shellac was sprayed on it. I just went with it, and rubbed on shellac and the maple took on the orange, and it was kind unique. But yea, if you didn't want that, you would be angry.

I have some rough Paduak that is almost black it was oxidized so much (must be really old) but when you cross cut it, it just screams orange.

[Guest]

Sounds like goncalo alves or " tiger wood"). I have some and it looks/behaves just as you describe. It's very heavy.

[AHill]

Sounds like padauk to me as well. The dust from sanding is persistent, and it'll cling to just about anything it comes in contact with. I highly recommend wearing a shop apron if you're going to mill it or sand it in any way. Padauk, over time turns from a medium orange to brown, similar to walnut. If you cut it, you'll expose the brighter orange color.

[BaileyNo5]

Color sounds like Paduak, but the sweet odor, that sounds like Bocote.

[petertay15]

Thank you, Guys. Paduak it seems to be. Yes, the bright orange sawdust is sticky as can be, and interesting to hear that the color bleeds. I made small kitchen utencils out of it, meaning long tongs to pull hot bagels or short bread out of the toaster.

[AHill]

BaileyNo5 said:

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Color sounds like Paduak, but the sweet odor, that sounds like Bocote.

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Bocote is not open-grained, though, and the dust is more of a cream color. I agree, the dust is very sticky, but it's definitely not bright orange. Bocote has quite a bit of contrast in the grain, varying from light to dark.

[Yetloh]

Pleased to see this thread. It confirms that a 48"x12"x2" board I bought in a junk yard about 20 years ago is indeed padauk. I've yet to find a use for it but have been toying with the idea of making some boxes and lining them with it to give a surprise (and hopefully) delight when opened. My theory is that, in this situation, the orange colour will be retained in the absence of light. Anyone know if this will work?

Jim

[SteveS]

if you are referring to african paduak and not andaman paduak, then, yes, the color will change if exposed to UV, but will be stable when not exposed to any direct or indirect light.