Wood From South of the Border

[Coop 7704]

My next door neighbor just returned from Monterey Mexico where he has relatives and brought this piece back. It is 11” x 14” x3” thick and weighs 15#. If it didn’t have grain and bark, I would swear it was lead. I loaned him my belt and orbital sander to get it to this point. 

Any clue as to what kind of wood it is? 

[Mick S 2722]

It's my wood. Mine. Give it back.

Sometimes called Texas ebony, maybe.

 

[wtnhighlander 7760]

Bark looks a bit like something in the juniper family. Seems like it will take on a high polish.

[phinds 305]

Texas ebony

http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/texas ebony.htm

 

[Coop 7704]

Thanks all! I will remove the bark and pith inclusions tomorrow and fill with epoxy. Then rub it down with mineral oil as he wants to use it as a cutting board. I have never seen a chunk that heavy and is really quiet beautiful. 

[RichardA 5104]

Moving a chunk that heavy as a cutting board might be a bit of a struggle.  Tell him you'll be happy to make it thinner, for a cutting board for Sharon.

[difalkner 817]

That only weighs 15 lbs. - wow!  Looks much heavier.  It's gonna look cool when it's finished.

David

[Mark J 2288]

How dry is it, Coop?  With the pith included I'm surprised it hasn't cracked more, so maybe that's still to come?

[Coop 7704]

That’s the bad part as the Mc is 22% and I told him there will be more checks.

[Mark J 2288]

Drill out the pith, put in a cup and make that the juice well??

Cut it in half and have two half moon boards?  

[curlyoak 863]

Might be lignum vitae. Just a guess. Also known as iron wood. If it is that, it  is endangered. And will never rot.

[phinds 305]

7 minutes ago, curlyoak said:

Might be lignum vitae.

Not a snowballs chance in hell

[Mick S 2722]

4 hours ago, phinds said:

Not a snowballs chance in hell

Oh, come on. Don't mince words! 

[Coop 7704]

9 hours ago, curlyoak said:

Might be lignum vitae. Just a guess. Also known as iron wood. If it is that, it  is endangered. And will never rot.

He paid $15 for this slab so probably not endangered! 

[ElisaWoodWorking 6]

I think it might be mexican ebony. 

 https://www.earlywooddesigns.com/pages/katalox-properties-info-uses#:~:text=Typically very dark black with,as hard as wood gets.

See what you think.

 

[curlyoak 863]

4 hours ago, ElisaWoodWorking said:

I think it might be mexican ebony. 

You are right!

[Tpt life 2794]

I learned very quickly to trust Phinds in such discussions. 

[phinds 305]

7 hours ago, curlyoak said:

You are right!

What do you base that on? I'm not saying you're wrong, since katalox is at least a possibility, but the sapwood does seem small for katalox but right for Texas ebony plus the color makes Texas ebony more likely (but does not absolutely rule out katalox).

Coop, is there any chance you could get a very close hi-res pic of the end grain? Texas ebony and katalox are easy to tell apart that way.

[Coop 7704]

He will be bringing it over today for the epoxy and I’ll see what kind of pics I can get. Thanks

[Coop 7704]

High resolution on a 2001 IPad usually don’t fit in the same sentence! will these help?

[phinds 305]

7 minutes ago, Coop said:

High resolution on a 2001 IPad usually don’t fit in the same sentence! will these help?

Yes, they say Texas ebony, not lignum vitae and definitely not katalox.

[phinds 305]

And just to be clear, this is NOT a 100% guarantee that it is Texas ebony, but it is a guarantee that it is not lignum vitae or katalox. My bet is very strongly that it IS Texas ebony but I don't like to imply a 100% ID unless I can see the end grain better.

[Coop 7704]

Thank you Paul! Appreciate Ya!