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My dad Got this wood years ago from my grandfather who lived in newmexico . I was Maybe 10 , so approx 40 yrs ago. This piece is "whats left" 48" long and 12" wide and 2" Thick. Dad died 6 yrs ago and its been laying in my shop since . Ive made several pieces of " crafty" stuff from it .
Now that Im into the luthrie id really like to know what it really is .

Anyone know? I actually dont.

The piece your looking at is 6" x 11" x 1-1/2" and weighs 4lbs so its dense and heavy if that helps.

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Black walnut or Claro walnut

or EIR

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My thoughts as well but as always, hard to really tell in a pic. I do have lots of Claro and 11 logs of Black and it looks a bit more like Claro.

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Bill Hodge


One does not simply, own enough guitars!

Honduran rosewood....?

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

Is it super heavy? I have a piece of Ipe that looks just like that.

doesnt smell anything like walnut? Could be I guess , when you cut it or sand it or plane it it is like a fine dust instead of sawdust. And yes it is quite heavy


( EIR or IPE ?? ) will have to do research on those .

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

Ipe and EIR are also definite possibilities. I always do much better with it in hand than I do through a pic because pics are so deceiving. Maybe you should send it to me for further analysis!?

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Bill Hodge


One does not simply, own enough guitars!

+1 for Honduran

This really illustrates the difficulty in working from a picture: two photos of the same piece of wood, same surface, same background, similar camera angle, and the first shot looks like Ipe, the second could be Claro walnut. If the dimensions and weight you give are accurate, it can't be Claro. If those figures are right, it should sink in water. There aren't too many woods that will sink after they've air dried for 40 years. Ipe could, or come close. I don't recall hearing it called "Ipe" until about 15 years ago, when it became popular for building decks where I live. Before then I think "Lapacho" was more common. At least one guitar builder is calling it "Greenheart", which usually refers to another, unrelated hardwood. Your sample could also be Lignum vitae. That would explain the weight. Is it slippery?

I have been working with some IPE lately and when machined it relases a strange yellowish dust
FWIW. I found it to be filthy weird grained nasty stuff that doesnt like tools or glue..pefect for decks infact... so hopefully it isnt that

Walnut or Ipe... sand... if the dust is yellow-ish, should be ipe, if its more brown, walnut... also, smell... if it's ipe it should smell like hell... and much better if walnut.

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Francis Richer, Montréal
Les Guitares F&M Guitars

Sanded and smelled , doesnt stink at all , basically has no real desernable smell . Even when sanding or cutting walnut gives a distinct odor this does not . Fine brown dust when sanded or cut , and if you dont have vac on the room gets cloudy wth dust INSTANTLY. The sizes and weights are accurate , i weighed it on digital postage scale . it howerver DOES float . Someone I know suggested Ironwood ?? also when i got it wet , and lifted it i had a brown stain on my hand , washed right off . Rough cut it is a deep dark brown , almost black . also the piece that is rough cut , where it wasnt sanded or planed actually shed the water a bit . where it was sanded it soaked straight in. and no it doesnt seem slippery .


Looks really nice finished , ahh well ??

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

I'm stumped. Not Ironwood--it smells bad when you cut it, too. And 48"x12''x2'' would be a Big piece of ironwood. My advice is: make a guitar out of it, and see what it sounds like.

If you're reaaallly interested in figuring it out, you can send an offcut to the USDA. I sent them some mahogany that I received for verification, and it took some time but I did get back the analysis. I just spent a bit of time on their website - couldn't find the address, but if they still offer that service, that's an option. They do have a "contact us" option on the website. Worth a try.