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I would sure appreciate it if someone can help me identify this wood. I scored this from a friend this weekend. It came from a tree in a swamp on or near Amelia Island, Florida. My friends dad was a boat builder and this was cut about 40 years ago. Most of it went into boats, this is what was left. The locals there at that time called it Red Cherry. Of course it is nothing like any cherry I have seen here in Tennessee. The wood is very dense like a rosewood or Bubinga. It is a beautiful deep red color when finished. All of the pieces are still very stable, little or no checking, and still straight after 40 years. I saw a piece that had been worked over 20 years ago and it did not appear to change color like cocobolo but stays that deep red. Some of the larger pieces are quartered and big enough for backs/sides. I could probably get about 6 sets out of quartered wood.

Here is the pile. There is one 4/4 piece of walnut and a few 1x2 size chunks of pecky cypress. The rest is the "Red Cherry"


A board and a piece of crotch. Some worm holes.


Here's a 3" or 4" wide piece that was planed with some Naptha on it showing the color.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

The middle picture, right hand board looks kind of like jatoba. The piece wiped with naptha looks just like the hardwood flooring I'm standing on - jatoba.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Hi Alex, that would explain why they called it cherry. I bet you're right. I should be able to get some good back/side sets out of it.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

It does look a bit like jatoba to me too, but I am bad with wood ID. Does it grow in Florida? I like working with the stuff and would love to come across some sets; nice score.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

This came from a known and trustworthy source so definitely from Florida. Since this one was cut 40 years ago no telling how it got there and I have no idea if they are common down there.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Since I don't believe jatoba grows in Florida I'm going to stick with cherry. not to sure what swamp cherry is unless it is like swamp ash, which is just ash that grows in a swamp.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

Based on Alex's ID and after reading up on the characteristics of Jatoba, aka Brazilian Cherry, I'm convinced that is what it is. However the information I've found says the trees don't grow very big in Florida. However, I believe that it was cut where and when my friend says it was cut.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I could see a couple scenarios that still allow this to be jatoba. It could have been a freakishly large tree for the area. Perhaps the swampy conditions and other local factors allowed it to grow larger than one would normally expect for the region. Or, more likely, the wood was cut locally but not felled locally. I could see this log coming in from the Caribbean (maybe even as ballast or something) where it grows large. A boat building community would likely have connections to such logs. If they were felling and processing other trees for lumber it would be worth while to get a few jatoba logs to process if they were interested in the timber.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Hard to tell for sure. 40 years ago this friend would have been around 15.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

40 years is long enough time to change a story around. It does look like Jatoba which is incredibly heavy stuff. What a nice score!