# Mystery Wood - Help Me Identify



## Jay Sweeney (Mar 27, 2016)

I would ask for the experts help here.  I live in a maritime community, wherein I sometimes get pieces of mystery wood from yachts or fishing boats.  I recently got a piece of old wood that looked like a chunk of oak, grey and weathered, decades old.  When I cut it on the table saw, however, it was very unusual.  it was (1) very aromatic, like turpentine, and (2) very oily, even after having been cut for years.  The grain is beautiful, a mixture of dark brown and light tan, the segmentations no more than 1.8th an inch apart.  I took a picture, but it looks to be too large to load.  Any ideas what the wood might be?  The oily feel and turpentine smell after decades should be hints...


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## CREID (Mar 27, 2016)

Beings how it is from a old boat it may be Teak.


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## Edgar (Mar 27, 2016)

Well, there is a turpentine tree that grows in Australia that is sometimes used in shipbuilding. I have no idea if that's what you have, but maybe one of our Aussie friends might be able to say. A photo would sure help.


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## low_48 (Mar 29, 2016)

If it smells like turpentine, it's pine.


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## KenV (Mar 29, 2016)

Welcome to IAP.  I reside in Juneau.

A picture would help, but a guess from the description is Southern Pine.  Pine weather's to Gray.

The Southern Pine I see in Juneau is in pallets and shipping packaging.


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## robutacion (Mar 29, 2016)

Not dismissing the fact that, Cypress has been used in some old shipping building, in fact, so has Cedar.  Just remember that, there are a large variety of sub-species on both wood species/genes.

As others suggested, a good pic would help a lot.  There are many free software options available online that, will reduce your pics to any size you want, 800x600 the most commonly used size.

Cheers
George


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## Olivewood Pen Blanks (Apr 4, 2016)

*I need help*

Hi,
 how do you add your signature ?
 thank you


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## jttheclockman (Apr 4, 2016)

Olivewood Pen Blanks said:


> Hi,
> how do you add your signature ?
> thank you




At the top of the page click on user CP in the blue banner line and scroll down to edit signature and follow instructions


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## thunderwear (Apr 4, 2016)

Could it be Camphor?


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## Fireengines (Apr 4, 2016)

Email the photo to me at ldlorance@hotmail.com and I will resize and post.


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## Hawkdave (Apr 4, 2016)

edohmann said:


> Well, there is a turpentine tree that grows in Australia that is sometimes used in shipbuilding. I have no idea if that's what you have, but maybe one of our Aussie friends might be able to say. A photo would sure help.



I think you could be right edohmann. I have included a link that shows a sample of the wood and a comprehensive description.

After reading it Jay, you may be able to decide if it is the same as yours.

Turpentine, also known as Syncarpia glomulifera - Species

Dave.

If your picture is too big, open it in 'Paint' and play around with the re-sizing feature.

After doing some more research, I came across this site:

http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/softwoods/maritime-pine/

It is a wood data base site that lists numerous types of wood. After doing a search for 'Turpentine Odor' It came up with Turpentine Tree (No Odor) and Maritime Pine which has a resinous odor. A resinous odor can also be likened to turpentine smell.


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