Wood ID with Pic's

[Dale.Z]

Came across some free firewood from an guy who had some hardwoods harvested from his land. The lumber company left behind some of the less desirable pieces and for the life of me I can not find out what type of wood this is. It had no bark left on it but the grain is beautifully laced with lots of purple and green colors thorough out. Splits real easy and seem fairly dense.

thanks for your help as always!

 

[no tree to big]

black walnut...

when you chop it are the newly exposed parts the ones with the green then disapear after a day or two?

 

[lone wolf]

I concur Black Walnut

 

[Dale.Z]

(when you chop it are the newly exposed parts the ones with the green then disapear after a day or two?)

Yes.

Thanks for your help guys. First time I came across Black Walnut. Hope it burns well.

 

[lone wolf]

(when you chop it are the newly exposed parts the ones with the green then disapear after a day or two?)

Yes.

Thanks for your help guys. First time I came across Black Walnut. Hope it burns well.

If you have any whole logs left make some rustic furniture out of it.

 

[serial feller]

Hope it burns well.

Dale, black walnut does burn well when properly seasoned, and yours appears to be getting there. Just keep it loosely stacked, or better yet cross stacked, with plenty of airflow. Like many woods, if you burn it green you will get a lot of creosote build up. It puts out decent BTU's. here's a chart. Which Firewood Give the Most Heat Firewood Guide BTU Rating Chart

The only real drawback to burning walnut (and this is more of an inconvenience) is that is produces a fluffy, high volume ash which makes clean up in your stove or fireplace a bit more frequent and messy.

 

[Rftreeman]

looks more like white oak to me...

 

[haveawoody]

Looks like cured or nearly cured red oak to me.
You have what looks like a northern red oak leaf sitting near the wood in one picture.
It's not black walnut, colour is all wrong for walnut.

 

[lone wolf]

Turn the brightness up on your computer I dont see any Oak grain!

 

[haveawoody]

lone wolf,

The first picture on the cut end looks like red oak to me.
The fibre looks like white oak but i think it's just bleached in the sun or nearly cured red oak.
The second picture just above the log has a leaf that looks pretty suspect as red oak.

Just my best guess though

 

[buzz sawyer]

Possibly butternut due to lightness - but I vote for black walnut. It can vary a lot in darkness.

 

[Rftreeman]

looks too dark for red oak and not dark enough for walnut so I still say white oak and that;s my story and I'm sticking to it...

 

[buzz sawyer]

Dale.Z, does a freshly cut or split piece smell like bourbon? Even if white oak has been down for some time it would still have that aroma.

Check the end grain with a magnifying glass. If you see pores it's probably not white oak.

Here's another walnut photo.

 

[haveawoody]

I keep thinking it's red oak because of the oak leafs in pictures and end cut red inner, but with the very white outer area it's suspect as being oak.
If we pretend it is just rouge leafs in the picture them maybe the wood is black locust.
Colour looks about right for locust, the bark would tell all or maybe a look at the side the bark was on could help id.
Splitting of black locust is more like splitting then tearing so info on splitting would be handy also.


buzz sawyer,
Good idea on the smell, all the oaks have a pretty distint smell even cured.

 

[climberjones]

Black walnut i cut and burn it all the time!

 

[lone wolf]

Black walnut i cut and burn it all the time!

Thats what I see.:msp_smile:

 

[2treeornot2tree]

Looks alot like a pin oak I just cut down.

 

[Beanhead III]

black walnut...

when you chop it are the newly exposed parts the ones with the green then disapear after a day or two?

Agreed...Color, grain, sapwood is Black Walnut...If piece is completely dried, cutting into it to identify will produce a purple color still, if any "greenish moisture from sap" is still present, cut area produces a green color which can turn purple in less than 30 minutes. Especially in Summer sunlight or heat. Simple test, plane it with a hand planer, shavings should pruduce a brownish purple color under shaved area. Bark is... however, similar to that of a Black Locust, however a Black Locust will have a lighter brown/gray bark, rather than the Black Walnut which has a medium to dark brown/grayish bark. (There is only one other tree in the world that cuts green color and turns purple, it's Purple Heart & grown in Brazil. (Sapwood on Purple Heart is green)

Hope it burns well.

It will burn just as good as red oak, and will produce popping if green or seasoned & water wet, similar to popping of 1st Generation Seasoned Cherry.

Dale.Z, does a freshly cut or split piece smell like bourbon?

Buzz is correct in this test, Walnut has a specific smell, none like any other due to the toxicity level of the timber. Generally the ground surrounding a Black Walnut is toxic as well, therefore rendering the soil poor quality for growing other plants below them (similar to Cedar). Shavings of Black Walnut are very toxic, DO NOT put shavings in a barn with Horses, the toxicity will enter into the horses hooves and eventually kill the horse. Wear proper respirators when milling, planing, cutting and sanding Black Wanut due to it's toxicity. toxicity is similar to Mahogany.

Black walnut i cut and burn it all the time!

I also agree with cj, I too cut it and mill it all the time, currently I have over 300 LBF in the attic drying, I know BW! If you still are not convinced, ask the guy you got the pieces from and ask him to show the exact stump spot it came from, then kick around in the leaves on the ground until you start kicking up large green/black balls that dye your tan boots a greenish/black...those are the Walnuts themself!

The only other possibile tree it might be is 'Popular' as it when dried does have purple and green colors, however...the pics submitted have grain of Black Walnut, not Popular.

 

[PJM]

Agreed...Color, grain, sapwood is Black Walnut...If piece is completely dried, cutting into it to identify will produce a purple color still, if any "greenish moisture from sap" is still present, cut area produces a green color which can turn purple in less than 30 minutes. Especially in Summer sunlight or heat. Simple test, plane it with a hand planer, shavings should pruduce a brownish purple color under shaved area. Bark is... however, similar to that of a Black Locust, however a Black Locust will have a lighter brown/gray bark, rather than the Black Walnut which has a medium to dark brown/grayish bark. (There is only one other tree in the world that cuts green color and turns purple, it's Purple Heart & grown in Brazil. (Sapwood on Purple Heart is green)


It will burn just as good as red oak, and will produce popping if green or seasoned & water wet, similar to popping of 1st Generation Seasoned Cherry.


Buzz is correct in this test, Walnut has a specific smell, none like any other due to the toxicity level of the timber. Generally the ground surrounding a Black Walnut is toxic as well, therefore rendering the soil poor quality for growing other plants below them (similar to Cedar). Shavings of Black Walnut are very toxic, DO NOT put shavings in a barn with Horses, the toxicity will enter into the horses hooves and eventually kill the horse. Wear proper respirators when milling, planing, cutting and sanding Black Wanut due to it's toxicity. toxicity is similar to Mahogany.

I also agree with cj, I too cut it and mill it all the time, currently I have over 300 LBF in the attic drying, I know BW! If you still are not convinced, ask the guy you got the pieces from and ask him to show the exact stump spot it came from, then kick around in the leaves on the ground until you start kicking up large green/black balls that dye your tan boots a greenish/black...those are the Walnuts themself!

The only other possibile tree it might be is 'Popular' as it when dried does have purple and green colors, however...the pics submitted have grain of Black Walnut, not Popular.

Walnut's 'toxicity' is due to the juglone that they produce. Juglone is mostly concentrated in the roots, but also occurs at lower levels in the leaves, bark and wood. This substance affects certain plants that may be growing in the vicinity of a black walnut tree. Plants most affected include tomatoes, potatoes, blueberries, apples and some peppers. Many plants are not bothered by or tolerate juglone just fine. It is true that black walnut shavings or dust should not be used as bedding for horses or dogs. Your caution to use PPE while woodworking should extend to all species of wood.

Have a look HERE and fear not the 'toxicity' of black walnut.

 

[tooold]

It sure looks like black walnut. To me, walnut smoke smells like smoke from someone smoking a pipe. I like the smell but it seems it will bother people more than other woods. When I was burning walnut, I bought 2' more chimney so we wouldn't smell the smoke as much. Sometimes, it would seep around windows on the down wind side of the house. With the walnut, I burn cherry, oak, locust, box elder, elm, hickory and other free stuff. I notice the walnut will leave more ash than oak but still burns good.