# New platter, mystery wood?



## firehawkmph (Apr 26, 2008)

At our woodturning club's meeting last week, the demo was turning a platter, so I turned one last nite. It's 10" in diameter. I don't know what the wood is. I got it along with some other blanks and the person I bought them from didn't know. It came through on one of his orders from his supplier unlabeled. Any guesses?
Mike Hawkins


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

My guess, and I am probably wrong, would be sycamore. Was it soft or relatively hard, sycamore would be kinda soft.

Whatever it is, it turned out very nice.










.


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## firehawkmph (Apr 26, 2008)

Darrell,
It was sorta in between. I have some sycamore pieces but it doesn't look like them. It has a nice color to it. Problem is, I am not sure if it's even domestic. Came from Gary at NCWOOD on ebay. He sells both domestic and exotic, so its got me baffled.
Mike Hawkins


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## Roger Newby (May 26, 2009)

The grain looks like monkeypod, but it's color is a little light.


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## Jeff4woodturning (Feb 1, 2009)

Osage Orange would be my guess.... awesome job Mike on the platter..what finish did you use?


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## ash123 (Mar 14, 2010)

I did a kitchen for a guy from Honduras mahogany once. The bottom picture reminds me of that. Nice bowl! Good job!


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## Itchy Brother (Aug 22, 2008)

Really Cool,How do ya put your name on it?I really like the color of the wood.Itchy


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## phinds (Mar 25, 2009)

no way it's osage orange or sycamore. could be canarywood; the grain is right but that would be an unusually bland piece in terms of color..

I also agree w/ the comment on Honduras mahogany; that's spot on in terms of grain but that's more yellow than I've ever seen in HM.

Whatever it is, you sure made a nice bowl out of it.

Paul


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## slatron25 (Dec 18, 2007)

I don't have a clue on the species but it sure is a nice looking piece.


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## firehawkmph (Apr 26, 2008)

Well let's see,
I know it's not canary wood. I use a lot of that for projects and turnings. It does have that look of mahogany grain, but the color is nowhere near for that. I think I have an osage orange bowl around, I'll have to dig it out. Color wise, it seems like it. But Phinds, you didn't think so. I plan on taking it to our next turner's meeting. We have a few old timers that are pretty good at id'ing wood. 
Jeff, I used satin lacqer, four coats, precisely applied with one of my old tube socks.:smile:
Itchy,
I have an old sears woodburner that I bought when I was a teenager, so it's about 35+ years old, made in USA, and works like a champ. I have to put on my cheater glasses and try and keep my hand steady with a light touch. I usually cut a few grooves on the bottoms of my pieces to use as a guide for the letters.
Mike Hawkins


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## phinds (Mar 25, 2009)

Mike, I was preparing a to add a response saying that I'm flat positive that it's not osage orange but now that I look at all the pics on my site, let me rephrase that ... it IS possible that it's osage orange but I highly doubt it and it definitely is not anything like any of the dozens of planks of osage orange that I've bought and worked over the years. 

I see from my site that there seem to be occasional planks that have a much vaguer grain (or at least appear to from the pics) than everything I've ever seen in person, so that does leave open the possibility that my limited experience is misleading me (but being the arrogant SOB that I am, I doubt it 

Paul


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## don716 (Mar 1, 2008)

It looks like Mulberry to me.I'm working on finishing a bowl and it looks the same.
Donny


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## firehawkmph (Apr 26, 2008)

Paul,
you're cracking me up. I may stop at the local woodcraft store and see if it looks like anything in there. They have a pretty good selection there and the owner is pretty knowledgable. 
Mike Hawkins


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## phinds (Mar 25, 2009)

I'll be interested to hear what it turns out to be.


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## rrbrown (Feb 15, 2009)

Hey Mike I haven't seen you on here much lately. I have absolutely no idea of the species but that's some very nice work and beautiful wood especially the way it was turned and finished.


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## firehawkmph (Apr 26, 2008)

Rr,
I was pretty busy on a ongoing remodeling job. I disassembled a vintage dirt bike and started to rebuild and refinish everything on it, so while doing a lot of painting work, I didn't want to make any sawdust in the shop. So I am just getting everything back in order so I can turn some more. Bike isn't done by any means, but it is going back together a little at a time. Just finished replating most of the nuts and bolts and relacing the wheels with stainless spokes. I'll post pics of it when it's done.
Mike Hawkins


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## Barry Ward (Mar 22, 2008)

*New platter,mystery wood*

I kinda thought about the canary wood,as I have a bunch of it,but hard to tell in a pic.ANYWAY,it sure is a purty piece. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:


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## firehawkmph (Apr 26, 2008)

Well,
I took the platter to our turning club meeting yesterday. One of the ol' timers who is pretty knowledgable, identified it as mahogany. I guess the light color threw me off. It also one first place in our monthly contest. Usually whatever the demo was from the month before is the type of contest piece for the following month. The pieces are displayed on a separate table and the club members vote on them by placing a wood biscuit in a cup located next to each entry. Pretty cool.
Mike Hawkins


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## phinds (Mar 25, 2009)

Hey, congratulations on the win ... that bowl deserves it. Thanks for letting us know what it was. I sure would have bet against mahogany based on the light color ... shows you how much I know. :blink:


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## buchhakj (Jul 7, 2010)

its beautiful


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## Lilty (Dec 20, 2006)

Don't know what type of wood it is but sure is pretty.

Lilty


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