What type of wood is this - good for fittings?

[Mille regardz]

5 minutes ago, martin swan said:

With respect, I think the problem is one of asking a question on a violin-making forum. It's impossible to know if the person answering has any serious ability to identify timber or not.

I would just point out that I ran a sawmill for the best part of 15 years, and felled and planked pretty much every hardwood that you might find in north Central Europe. Beech is so common here it's practically a weed, and I really don't need a microscope to recognize it.

We aren't trying to identify a species of spruce (which isn't that difficult if you've got a standing tree to look at), merely to distinguish a very common tree with known characteristics (elephantine smooth grey bark, false heartwood of a yellow/brown hue, yellow rot in the centre, very wide annular rings with pinkish grain giving way to yellow on the outside, odourless shavings etc etc etc) from various other things which don't have those characteristics. Apple has a bark made up of plaques, olive doesn't grow in Holland, Norway maple has a diamond-patterned open bark and doesn't have a pink hue, hickory (not European) has a heavy dark grain pattern, etc etc ...

In that case I think I got lucky that I ran into someone who used to run a sawmill on a violin forum

Thanks for all your suggestions and I hope you have a Christmas as wonderful as my piece of beech and I have! 

[martin swan]

28 minutes ago, Joris said:

In that case I think I got lucky that I ran into someone who used to run a sawmill on a violin forum

Thanks for all your suggestions and I hope you have a Christmas as wonderful as my piece of beech and I have! 

Happy Christmas to both of you!

BTW I wouldn't recommend using it for fittings - it does turn well but ultimately it's not hard enough.

[Marty Kasprzyk]

Give the shaped parts a soak in thin super glue.  Let them harden/dry before using them.

[fiddlecollector]

On 12/24/2019 at 12:25 AM, martin swan said:

f the density is high it's probably because it's branchwood or because the measurements are a bit off. You'll notice that it's super fast grown (very wide grain spacing) - that creates higher density. 

Martin, isnt that the wrong way around fast  growth /very wide grain spacing usually means lower denity not higher!

[martin swan]

Hi FC!

I think with many hardwoods you get higher density from either very fast growth or very slow, with average growth giving medium density.

With conifers definitely slow growth = higher density

https://blogs.napier.ac.uk/cwst/growth-rate-and-wood-density/

[fiddlecollector]

57 minutes ago, martin swan said:

Hi FC!

I think with many hardwoods you get higher density from either very fast growth or very slow, with average growth giving medium density.

With conifers definitely slow growth = higher density

https://blogs.napier.ac.uk/cwst/growth-rate-and-wood-density/

Thanks ,interesting topic ,so beech is in categary  4?

 

I read another paper stating that beech grown in the last 150 years was often lower density with wider early growth but they were sort of jumping at conclusions as to WHY it was less dense.

[David Beard]

Is that piece of wood good for fittings?

No.

Will that stop you?    

[martin swan]

3 hours ago, fiddlecollector said:

Thanks ,interesting topic ,so beech is in categary  4?

 

You're right - I was thinking of oak and ash which are of higher density when fast grown - I believe maple/sycamore falls into this category too.

[Violadamore]

On 12/22/2019 at 6:31 AM, Joris said:

What type of wood is this - good for fittings?

Given that it has a density around 1.0, which will translate into "hard", and that all the species discussed have been used either for instrument fittings, or for some similar use such as gunstocks or knife handles, I'd say that, whatever it is, it will make good to excellent fittings. 

[Marty Kasprzyk]

21 minutes ago, Violadamore said:

Given that it has a density around 1.0, which will translate into "hard", and that all the species discussed have been used either for instrument fittings, or for some similar use such as gunstocks or knife handles, I'd say that, whatever it is, it will make good to excellent fittings. 

1.0 is too dense for most rifle and shotgun stocks.  Medium density woods such as walnut and maple are the most commonly used woods. They have a combination of adequate strength and hardness without adding excess weight.

[Dennis J]

Here's some olive fresh off the saw which I once was near certain the example was, but now I'm not so sure. It's a branch from a very old, weathered tree hence the cracked bark (younger wood is typically smooth which turns grey and cracks as it ages).

There is some darker discoloration which comes from a crack but I know some examples have much darker brown areas caused by spalting I believe.

But the end grain probably doesn't suggest it is the same wood.

 

 

[Violadamore]

8 hours ago, Marty Kasprzyk said:

1.0 is too dense for most rifle and shotgun stocks.  Medium density woods such as walnut and maple are the most commonly used woods. They have a combination of adequate strength and hardness without adding excess weight.

Picky, picky, picky.  I said two different things at once. 

OK, to rephrase, whatever it is, the wood will stand up to wear and abuse, so use it. 

[MeyerFittings]

 1 kg/dm^3, is 62lb/ft.3 which is about as hard as box.wood. How did you get the measurement? Does it float?

[Johnmasters]

If it is super hard and tough,   It may be dogwood.  I have some dogwood in sizable pieces and it looks somewhat like this.  I have never tried to make anything from it.  If it IS dogwood,  I believe it would be very stable and polish up nicely.  

[HoGo]

I agree with Martin it's most likely beech - even though we cannot see the rays (probably because poor pictures). Beech is most common tree around here and the bark is unmistakable among local trees. So if it is european tre then beech. I would not recomment it for fittings as it may be a bit unstable (especially if it is branch or stump shoot) after huidity cycling. Also even though it is hard to nails or heavy it wears quite fast (really bad for plane sole) hornbeam is much better for this or rowan. Many cheap old german violins had beech fingerboards stained black because they were chep and plentiful.