Need help on ID'ing these woods...

[AJ]

Hi Y'all,

My brother-in-law bought some lumber at an auction a while back, one type was sold as teak, the other as red elm.  I'm not familiar with either, was looking for some help in confirming this.  It's in my storage shed, and his plans for using it have now changed, so he said to sell it.  However, I wanted to confirm what it was before listing it.

I do know that the "teak" is extremely hard on jointer and planer knives - dulled a newly sharpened set in about 10-12 passes.  From what I've read about teak, it's supposed to be slightly oily; I didn't notice it with this wood.  Most of the wood has a pithy strip on one side, kind of cork-like.  Maybe this was the center cuts and were sold as seconds?  The density seems to be medium, doesn't seem to be as heavy as some pecan I've cut.  The grain is medium-fine.

I'm going to attempt to post some pics - hope this works!

Here's a pic of the good side of the "teak"



And the pith side



The wood that's supposed to be red elm has a grain similar to ash, but does have a little of the irredescent(sp?) swirls in the grain like some elm I've seen cut down here.  Is "red elm" a specific tree type, or does it just refer to the dominant color of the wood?  It has a medium grain, also seems to be a medium density as well.  I did notice a sour smell from it, but that could have been attributed to mice...

Here's a couple pics of the red elm





Also, if this is teak, what kind of price does it bring?  This is all 4/4 narrow boards, from 3-6" width, and 6' long.  I'd call it seconds due to the pith on most of the pieces.

Thanks for any help you can offer,

Andy
 

[pigman]

The bottom pictures look like red elm I have milled. Can't help on the teak. I have cut teak trees, but have never seen the the lumber except on TV.

[populus]

I'm with Pigman on the lower pictures - they look like elm. The upper pictures don't look like teak that I have worked with in southeast Asia. However, there are lots of things called teak in the timber trade that are not Tectona grandis. Afrormosia, Chlorophora, Terminalia and several others are marketed as teak. The picture looks a lot like Cordia (bocote), which has more pronounced ray fleck than does teak. 

So the problem you may have is that it could be called teak by some dealers but not by others. You may want to send a sample to the Forest Products Lab for identification, or send some to a dealer in tropical hardwoods. If you have a lot of it, it would be worth the time. Otherwise, sell it as mixed hardwood.

[Buzz-sawyer]

The bottom pictures look like red elm I have milled. Can't help on the teak. I have cut teak trees, but have never seen the the lumber except on TV.

WOOOAH Pigman
Since when does using C-4 and det. cord.........and otherwise BLASTING things to splinters become cutting

[pigman]

Now Buzz, we did have OD green chainsaws that we sometimes used on the smaller trees.   If Harold had not already  taken the name Rodney I would.

[sprucebunny]

The teak I've worked with boatbuilding all had a smell.... somewhere between mothballs and dust . Also the new cut wood is a different color from wood that has been exposed to air for a day or two.
Also the teak I've seen was never as dark or as light as the wood in the first picture and the grain was more subtle.

[SwampDonkey]

This site may be of some help

Teak specs Link

[AJ]

Thanks for the help!  It appears the red elm is what he thought it was, and the other may be teak, I'm still not sure on that.  The description in the link from SwampDonkey describes a lot of its attributes, especially the blunting of sharp edges!

However, I didn't notice any oily feel to the wood, which I thought was one of the signs.  The colors can apparently range quite a bit, so I'm not sure how much the appearance counts either.

I may just try to sell it and tell any buyers up front that I'm not 100% sure of what it is.  The main thing right now is getting it out of my storage shed (just so I can move in some of my own wood!).

Thanks Again,

Andy

[SwampDonkey]

My wood tech book says there can be chalky deposits in the wood of teak, but it says it's not a definative wood id property. That's because some specimens may not have it.