what wood is this

[matthew]

You guys know your exotic hardwoods, I don't.

I recuperated a whole pile of this out of a discarded asian chest of drawers.

[DarwinStrings]

Maybe Merbau, weight?

JIm

[matthew]

quite heavy, dense, has yellow resin in the pores.

There are two colours, quite distinct. One reddish brown, the other more a muddy putty brown. The latter is a bit teaky, but both have the yellow pores.

Going to make a plane body out of it, but i have heaps more. does it bend?

[DarwinStrings]

I have only ever used Merbau for decking Matthew, it does sound and look right. I may have read somewhere that it bends okay and would say it is pretty stable (sits well as a decking in the tropics).

Jim

[kiwigeo]

Dont know what it is but its going to take you a shit load of pumice ad elbow grease to fill those pores

[rod]

It is Merbau,can'y say I have ever seen it wide enough for a 2 piece back though!

[Steve]

Another vote of Merbau (aka Kwila)

[Allen]

Didn't know that Merbau (aka Kwila) were the same thing, but it looks exactly like the Kwila I've got kicking around here. Quite heavy, huge pores with some having those mineral inclusions. There are some very big boards of it at the Cairns Woodworkers Guild.

[matthew]

Martin, you don't HAVE to fill every pore unless you like a perfectly glossy look. But in my workshop, we don't do that sort of work

I have some cupboard door panels and drawer sides of this wood, all nice straight bits.

[Steve]

Didn't know that Merbau (aka Kwila) were the same thing, but it looks exactly like the Kwila I've got kicking around here. Quite heavy, huge pores with some having those mineral inclusions. There are some very big boards of it at the Cairns Woodworkers Guild.

I'm with you - I had thought that they were similar, but only last week someone questioned that & suggested that they are one in the same - apparently they are: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intsia_bijuga
Steve

[DarwinStrings]

It does get big as it is sold as one piece external stair treads up here, pre-bullnosed and with drip rabbets, plenty big enough for a dready.

Jim

[seeaxe]

Another vote for kwila - I bought some in Auckland and it looked just like that, including the yellow resin in teh pores.

I took a lot of filling when I went to fill the pores I had three goes and still didn't get them all.

I built my travel guitar and the black tele using it, I like the finish and the colour.

Heavy as, though.

Cheers

[Allen]

The splinters hurt like hell though. Watch out for them.

[jeffhigh]

Sure looks like merbau to me. I buy a paling and cut it in strips for go bars

[seeaxe]

Jeff - thats a great idea - what size did you make your go bars?? I was just about to buy some,

Cheers

Richard

[jeffhigh]

I use a slightly taller than standard deck so I don't have to duck
Mine end up about 850x 15x 3.5 adjust the thickness so they are the right flexibility for your deck height.
I have sets that are shorter to use for back glueups.

[seeaxe]

Thanks Jeff