What wood is this ?

[Showbags]

Currently building a shed and this wood is a couple of the posts I bought in a pile.

We cut it back today and it is jet black, the builders that knew what all the other wood was, but no idea what this one was.

It is very hard, the electric plane was working over time to cut it back just a little.

A friend that used to work in laos brought some wood back with him last year and it was a 'black' wood, but very rare.

Anyway, anyone know anything about it as looks kinda nice and polished would have a very different look to it.

[Showbags]

Somebody must know...have seen it before !!!!!!

[wym]

Ask a local in the biz to write it down in Thai

[Rooo]

Moved to housing for more specialized input.

[Showbags]

Ask a local in the biz to write it down in Thai

Nobody so far knows the name.

[yermanee]

Ask a local in the biz to write it down in Thai

Nobody so far knows the name.

Probably

Diospyros ebonasea

Popular name is ebony

Yermanee

Edited February 16, 2014 by yermanee

[Showbags]

Sounds expensive.

Looking at it again today, really nice colour and grain.

Got 3 posts, 2 x 5m, 1 x 2m and some offcuts.....another 3m one they have marked to use for the shed, might try to find a replacement.

Think it will make a really nice table or such.

[yermanee]

Sounds expensive.

Looking at it again today, really nice colour and grain.

Got 3 posts, 2 x 5m, 1 x 2m and some offcuts.....another 3m one they have marked to use for the shed, might try to find a replacement.

Think it will make a really nice table or such.

Yes it is expensive and would be a shame to use it as a shed post.

On the other hand would be a very sturdy shed.

(If you use it for a table, don't lacquer it, it would look like plastic. Waxing gives a really nice satin finish.)

Yermanee

[Showbags]

The place I bought it from said nobody wanted the black posts.

Sooooo.....shall go back tomorrow and try to buy their entire stock...if they have any, few and infrequent I think.

Might even set up a buy order with them as will be needing a lot some time down the track for a house....nice black wooden posts in a stone house would look nice.

Thanks for the info.

[impulse]

Whatever it is, set it aside and build your shed out of something cheaper.

And do go back and buy the rest of it.

[nisakiman]

If it is ebony, as yermanee suggests, then it is a very expensive wood. I have my doubts, however. There are two types of Ebony; African, which is found in Southern Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Zaire, and Macassar, which comes from the Celebes Islands, neither of which are likely to be exported to Thailand for construction purposes.

Could be 'Indian Laurel', which grows in Myanmar (known locally as 'Taukkyan') and Khmer (Neang) and probably to a lesser extent in Thailand (but I don't have a local name in Thai for it), and is used for marine construction and piling, posts, pitprops etc. Colour varies from light brown heartwood to dark brown with irregular darker streaks or lines. According to my reference book, it is "difficult to work with hand tools, and moderately hard to machine, with a blunting effect on cutting edges".

On the other hand, it could just be local Teak, which can vary in colour from golden brown to very dark brown. In any large batch, there will inevitably be a small percentage of dark wood, which may well be considered sub-standard for furniture making so gets consigned to the 'gash timber' pile for construction use.

[Showbags]

But this is not brown, or dark brown...it is literally black and the bits that have been planed, not sanded yet, look very nice and I would imagine when sanded will have a spectacular finish.

Anyway, not everyone might like black, I never would have before, but now seeing this, it has my eye.

We have some red wood left over also, so that and the black look great.

About half the posts are yellow, so suited for the job, hardwoods and termite proof.

I'll take more pics the end of the week.

[Bantex]

It looks like ebony. Super strong for wood & worth a bit of cash. Ebony was used to make the black keys in pianos.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand.

[nisakiman]

It would be interesting to see a photo of a piece that has been planed and sanded, better to see the grain configuration. Dark woods like that are quite rare, apart (as I said in my last post) from timber that is normally much lighter, but for some reason (such as minerals locally in the soil or particular growing conditions) has thrown up some much darker hued trees, or parts of trees. It certainly looks interesting, and If I were to get some like that in a batch, I would be inclined, as you are, to use it for a table or something similar. My gut feeling is that it is teak, albeit very dark teak. It looks to have a somewhat reddish tinge to it, almost like Mahogany, although I've never come across Mahogany that dark, and I've used a fair bit of it over the years. That said, I've bought my Mahogany in Europe, so quite possibly the dark bits don't get through export QC. (When I speak of Mahogany, I include those timbers which are not in fact true Mahogany, but are marketed as such, like Utile, Sapele, Meranti, Balau etc., some of which grow in SE Asia)

[olddoc]

Congratulations on your "Find"

I am no timber expert but it seems to be good stuff -------

Make something which displays the beauty of the wood

[AyG]

If it is ebony, as yermanee suggests, then it is a very expensive wood. I have my doubts, however. There are two types of Ebony; African, which is found in Southern Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Zaire, and Macassar, which comes from the Celebes Islands, neither of which are likely to be exported to Thailand for construction purposes.

There is also Mun ebony (Diospyros mun) which grows in Laos.

Perhaps the OP could compare the grain with these samples: http://www.pinterest.com/wooddatabase/dark-woods/

[rawhod]

Could it be Lygnum Vitae?

http://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/how-to-tell-genuine-lignum-vitae-from-argentine-lignum-vitae/

http://www.core77.com/blog/materials/lignum_vitae_wood_so_bad-ass_its_used_to_make_shaft_bearings_for_nuclear_submarines_and_more_25224.asp

Edited February 17, 2014 by rawhod

[nisakiman]

If it is ebony, as yermanee suggests, then it is a very expensive wood. I have my doubts, however. There are two types of Ebony; African, which is found in Southern Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Zaire, and Macassar, which comes from the Celebes Islands, neither of which are likely to be exported to Thailand for construction purposes.

There is also Mun ebony (Diospyros mun) which grows in Laos.

Perhaps the OP could compare the grain with these samples: http://www.pinterest.com/wooddatabase/dark-woods/

Thanks for that, it's one I've not come across before. It just goes to show that however much we think we know, there is always more to learn!

[Showbags]

It would be interesting to see a photo of a piece that has been planed and sanded, better to see the grain configuration. Dark woods like that are quite rare, apart (as I said in my last post) from timber that is normally much lighter, but for some reason (such as minerals locally in the soil or particular growing conditions) has thrown up some much darker hued trees, or parts of trees. It certainly looks interesting, and If I were to get some like that in a batch, I would be inclined, as you are, to use it for a table or something similar. My gut feeling is that it is teak, albeit very dark teak. It looks to have a somewhat reddish tinge to it, almost like Mahogany, although I've never come across Mahogany that dark, and I've used a fair bit of it over the years. That said, I've bought my Mahogany in Europe, so quite possibly the dark bits don't get through export QC. (When I speak of Mahogany, I include those timbers which are not in fact true Mahogany, but are marketed as such, like Utile, Sapele, Meranti, Balau etc., some of which grow in SE Asia)

I will post some pics next week as away for couple days, I'll sand some up and wax it.

the reddish tinge is reflection from the red posts below and beside, because it is very black, no red tinge.

l ducked into the woodyard this morning before we headed away and bought a 3m red post to replace the last black one. So now have 4 black posts 3 to 5m each, 20cm sq.

Told the yard guy thst we know as we buy a bit of stuff from him, said that the black wood is not so nice, thais dont like it at all and he agreed. Put in a standing order to buy all the black wood that comes in....lets see what we end up with.

[Showbags]

Congratulations on your "Find"

I am no timber expert but it seems to be good stuff -------

Make something which displays the beauty of the wood

thats the idea...cheers

[Showbags]

If it is ebony, as yermanee suggests, then it is a very expensive wood. I have my doubts, however. There are two types of Ebony; African, which is found in Southern Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Zaire, and Macassar, which comes from the Celebes Islands, neither of which are likely to be exported to Thailand for construction purposes.

There is also Mun ebony (Diospyros mun) which grows in Laos.

Perhaps the OP could compare the grain with these samples: http://www.pinterest.com/wooddatabase/dark-woods/

l'll get a better idea after l sand some up and polish.

but if from laos, as mentioned in op, a friend brought some black wood back from there last year.

[nisakiman]

It would be interesting to see a photo of a piece that has been planed and sanded, better to see the grain configuration. Dark woods like that are quite rare, apart (as I said in my last post) from timber that is normally much lighter, but for some reason (such as minerals locally in the soil or particular growing conditions) has thrown up some much darker hued trees, or parts of trees. It certainly looks interesting, and If I were to get some like that in a batch, I would be inclined, as you are, to use it for a table or something similar. My gut feeling is that it is teak, albeit very dark teak. It looks to have a somewhat reddish tinge to it, almost like Mahogany, although I've never come across Mahogany that dark, and I've used a fair bit of it over the years. That said, I've bought my Mahogany in Europe, so quite possibly the dark bits don't get through export QC. (When I speak of Mahogany, I include those timbers which are not in fact true Mahogany, but are marketed as such, like Utile, Sapele, Meranti, Balau etc., some of which grow in SE Asia)

I will post some pics next week as away for couple days, I'll sand some up and wax it.

the reddish tinge is reflection from the red posts below and beside, because it is very black, no red tinge.

l ducked into the woodyard this morning before we headed away and bought a 3m red post to replace the last black one. So now have 4 black posts 3 to 5m each, 20cm sq.

Told the yard guy thst we know as we buy a bit of stuff from him, said that the black wood is not so nice, thais dont like it at all and he agreed. Put in a standing order to buy all the black wood that comes in....lets see what we end up with.

Excellent! I'll keep an eye on this thread!

[yermanee]

It would be interesting to see a photo of a piece that has been planed and sanded, better to see the grain configuration. Dark woods like that are quite rare, apart (as I said in my last post) from timber that is normally much lighter, but for some reason (such as minerals locally in the soil or particular growing conditions) has thrown up some much darker hued trees, or parts of trees. It certainly looks interesting, and If I were to get some like that in a batch, I would be inclined, as you are, to use it for a table or something similar. My gut feeling is that it is teak, albeit very dark teak. It looks to have a somewhat reddish tinge to it, almost like Mahogany, although I've never come across Mahogany that dark, and I've used a fair bit of it over the years. That said, I've bought my Mahogany in Europe, so quite possibly the dark bits don't get through export QC. (When I speak of Mahogany, I include those timbers which are not in fact true Mahogany, but are marketed as such, like Utile, Sapele, Meranti, Balau etc., some of which grow in SE Asia)

I will post some pics next week as away for couple days, I'll sand some up and wax it.

the reddish tinge is reflection from the red posts below and beside, because it is very black, no red tinge.

l ducked into the woodyard this morning before we headed away and bought a 3m red post to replace the last black one. So now have 4 black posts 3 to 5m each, 20cm sq.

Told the yard guy thst we know as we buy a bit of stuff from him, said that the black wood is not so nice, thais dont like it at all and he agreed. Put in a standing order to buy all the black wood that comes in....lets see what we end up with.

Excellent! I'll keep an eye on this thread!

Me too !!!!

Yermanee

[BookMan]

I will also be lurking...

[BookMan]

I will also be lurking...

[Showbags]

Heres a teaser...

Brought home an offcut, thought it was cut off the black post, but think/hope not now, hard to tell when just rough on the outside.....anyway, pics show one side just sanded smooth and the other side I polished with bees wax.....still a very nice dark brown wood with nice grain.....whats this one then ?

Shall give the black post a polish up later today as will have to take the tools to the log.

[Showbags]

here is the black post.....polished up it does have a red tinge when viewed in sunlight from a certain angle....but this might also be the red sanding dust settling into the grain and cracks....shall give it a wash and see what comes up also in next few days.

[JesseFrank]

here is the black post.....polished up it does have a red tinge when viewed in sunlight from a certain angle....but this might also be the red sanding dust settling into the grain and cracks....shall give it a wash and see what comes up also in next few days.

IMG_3171.JPG

IMG_3172.JPG

That looks like a piece of wood that has been soaked in chaindrite.

[Showbags]

At 15 to 20cm thick and black all the way through...dun think so.

[nisakiman]

here is the black post.....polished up it does have a red tinge when viewed in sunlight from a certain angle....but this might also be the red sanding dust settling into the grain and cracks....shall give it a wash and see what comes up also in next few days.

IMG_3171.JPG

IMG_3172.JPG

It's a bit difficult to see, as these photos aren't as clear as the ones you posted a bit earlier, but from what I can make out the grain configuration looks very similar in both. I'm still inclined to think that they are both the same wood, just that the darker one has been subjected to different growing/drying/storage conditions. Some clearer shots of the dark wood would help.