Identify wood from the end grain of a board/log

[SwampDonkey]

Fortunately most of us with experience with the tree species we are dealing with don't need a hand lens to identify. But, I still meet the old fellow that should know his species. But still mix up basswood for some exotic tree that wouldn't even grow here and even saw one fellow mix up balm-of-gilead for red oak. I'm not going to bash you technicians over it, but call a spade a spade they were both technicians.

[Jeff]

even saw one fellow mix up balm-of-gilead for red oak.

I've seen that exact mistake as well. By one of my cousins who is a  woodshop teacher. 

[beenthere]

SD
What is a "technician"  ??

[SwampDonkey]

forest technician, 2 year diploma, used to be 1 year with 2 years experience.


Tom, I know you want to say something.

[Tom]

They used to call that an Associates Degree and it wasn't worth beans but to get you into a 4 year school. 

[SwampDonkey]

I don't want to rant, and it has nothing to do with anything said in here. But, what turns my stomach inside out is to go down to the Forestry Canada, Maritime Regional building and walk into a theatre where over the door it reads Irving Theatre, just because some business man had $10,000, or what ever it was to throw around, an MBA, and whose parent company was subsidized by the government since the purchase of the NB rail road back in 1945. Instead of putting George Miller's name up there who was Chief forester with a B.Sc.For and M.Sc.For. in the province from 1927-1959, a veteran of WWI, a surveyor with a B.Sc.CE,  and began the program for fire management in NB, came from Tracey Mills in Carleton County NB, and a cousin to my grandmother. Just shows you that money over rides logic. 


There is just some times a guy has to unload. 

[Tom]

I agree, Swamp Donkey.  A family with money can get their name spread all over the county while worthwhile "doers" go unnoticed.   There is a saying that you are famous as long as you are remembered.  The good thing about that is that there are people like you who won't let the deserving go unnoticed or be forgotten.  Perhaps writing his name in a book telling his story is one of the ultimate tributes. 

Usually a building with a name will have people, years later, asking "who is that guy?"  Then they tear the building down.

[Samuel]

An associates degree hey?    I am happy that my employers haven't heard that, or I would have to get a new job someplace.

With an associate degree maybe the new Wal-Mart would hire me as a greeter...

hmmm...  Anyhow food for thought...

The two associations in Alberta (RPF's and RPFT's) are considering a merger this year.  Given that the Alberta Regulated Forester's Act does not differentiate between certification hierarchies,  it would be a smart move.  In Alberta we are referred to as Registered Forest Professionals rather than the RPF or RPFT however I like to still consider myself a tech, however given that Tom has listed me as equal to a Wal-Mart greeter, I may have to reconsider. 

[SwampDonkey]

They might as well do it here to Sam, since apparently a bachelor of science degree doesn't mean anything to many employers, most being private companies or corporations. I don't know if it ever did matter to most of them, certainly being an RPF in NB didn't increase your salary. The job was more based on wit and charm than it was knowledge and practice. I read a job posting a couple months ago for a biologist employed by forestry Canada for a salary of $28,000.  Must have been a real bottom feeder. I think it was a 3 year term. I read on UNB's website that average starting salaries for graduating foresters was $46,000. WHERE? I've never seen those wages yet in 15 years. I don't even see those wages in BC or Alberta advertised on the Forestry job site. The only comparable pay is with unions. Not many foresters are unionized around here. As one consultant stated, there are more foresters than jobs.

[Radar67]

I have another unknown for you to ID. This is a dark grained wood I found at the local hardwood mill. They use it for stickers and this was in the broke, trash pile. Let me say this up front, I do not have a clue as to what this is, but for some reason, I want to say it resembles mahogany.

I scanned this chip in, it is ½ x ¾ inches.

[WDH]

I bet it is an Indonesian hardwood.  Many of the kiln stickers my company uses in the big pine mills comes in bundles clearly marked from Indonesia.  They get very brittle and splintery after repeated cycles in the kiln, almost like fiberglass.

[SwampDonkey]

Looks very hard and tropical, but I have no idea from the picture. My keys and micrographs are for temperate areas of NA. It would be great if we had keys for tropical hardwoods or from other nations. Then, I wonder if we could read the text.

[Riles]

Great picture, by the way.

[Dodgy Loner]

Ditto what Riles said.  Scanning it in seems to be a great way to get a closeup of the endgrain.  Definitely a tropical hardwood, but beyond that I don't have a clue.

[WDH]

Dodgy,

I bet it is the same as or a similiar species that you are so used to using to stick lumber at my place.  You should be real familiar with it by now .

[Dodgy Loner]

Yep, that's what I was thinking.  You're definitely right about the fiber-glass texture.

[Radar67]

It was scanned at 1200 dpi and then resized and optimized with PhotoShop.

So, Danny is the new local sticker supplier?

[WDH]

I went to one of our big pine mills and they let me have some of their broken stickers.  The mill uses 8' stickers for the kiln charges, and invariably, some of them get broken in use.  So the broken ones are sorted out and put in a dumpster destined for the landfill.  I got several pick-up truck loads of these stickers and they work great.  I have enough to sticker about 6000 bd-ft, which is way more than I ever need to have on sticks at one time. 

So, if you need stickers, contact some mills in your area and ask them if you can have their broken stickers that will be otherwise burned or land-filled.

[SwampDonkey]

Ok, a wood ID for this board. I know what it is, but do you? It is hardwood. I'll give ya that for now, and this picture.




I darkened the image down some, don't know if that helps. When looking at the board, you actually see the grain better by looking at an angle where the light reflects off it.

[SwampDonkey]

This might help, don't know.