this post was submitted on 08 Sep 2023
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Woodworking

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Can any of you identify this wood? (nextcloud.kessel.hya.sk)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 

I found it in a forest in Jura mountains (France). Do you think I could make an axe handle out of it?

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I don't think it is ash - the bark does not look right. Having a cross section showing the face grain and end grain is often helpful to identify wood from a picture.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Face grain: https://nextcloud.kessel.hya.sk/s/RbWeoYrksq4Ro3Z
End grain: https://nextcloud.kessel.hya.sk/s/MfBkftqq7DnrjcF
Bark: https://nextcloud.kessel.hya.sk/s/2R5ycP2sjLMQWjf

I didn't know those terms as I'm a total woodwork newbie. Do you confirm the pictures I linked match what I called them?

Thanks very much everyone for your answers :-)

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes, those terms match your pictures. My vote is for beech, but it's still a guess. It grows in the region (Jura Mountains), is a hardwood and has a similar grain pattern and bark.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

From the trees that grow there, beech is completely a possibility, but I can't find the little dashes that I usually see on the edge grain of beech wood, thus I eliminated that possibility. Still I don't know if every beech look the same, so, maybe you're right? Oak, ash and maple are all other possibilities for that forest, but maple was very unlikely, thus the other guesses (oak and ash) are completely plausible too.

Do you think of a test, or anything else I could do on the wood to help further determine the essence?