# Is there such a thing as blue wood?



## Byrney (Feb 4, 2008)

I like to make bits and pieces out of woods in as many different *natural* colours as possible. Padauk is red; Australian sheoak is orange; pau amarello is yellow; Colombian verawood is green; purpleheart is (duh) purple; ebony is black; Rio rosewood is brown. These aren't tints, they're bold, rich colours - as rich as if the wood had been dyed. Pretty much the only one I'm missing is blue. Is there such a thing as wood that is naturally blue in colour?

And yes, I could use blue wood dye but that would be "cheating" :smile:


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## Boardman (Sep 9, 2007)

There is something called Blue Mahoe

http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/bluharvests.php

but it's variable in color and not all that blue.


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## Gerry KIERNAN (Apr 20, 2007)

Byrney said:


> I like to make bits and pieces out of woods in as many different *natural* colours as possible. Padauk is red; Australian sheoak is orange; pau amarello is yellow; Colombian verawood is green; purpleheart is (duh) purple; ebony is black; Rio rosewood is brown. These aren't tints, they're bold, rich colours - as rich as if the wood had been dyed. Pretty much the only one I'm missing is blue. Is there such a thing as wood that is naturally blue in colour?
> 
> And yes, I could use blue wood dye but that would be "cheating" :smile:


Beetle killed pine from British Columbia is blue green in colour. The tint is not very dark, but is bluish.

Gerry


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## dirtclod (May 7, 2008)

That would be denim pine. It comes from many type of pines that have started to degrade. Doing a web search for denim pine should turn up many matches. Beyond that I'm at a loss for true blue. 

You didn't mention red?

How about holly or (properly handled) hackberry for white?

Rare yellowwood for it's distinct phosphorescent color. And you ought to see what the heartwood of native smoketree looks like.

This site has the most extensive list of wood pictures I've seen: http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/index.htm

There's another site I have saved in my favorites that lets you pick wood by color. I just can't remember what it's called. If it turns up I'll post it.


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## Byrney (Feb 4, 2008)

dirtclod said:


> That would be denim pine. It comes from many type of pines that have started to degrade. Doing a web search for denim pine should turn up many matches. Beyond that I'm at a loss for true blue.
> 
> You didn't mention red?
> 
> ...


Thanks for the answers guys, I appreciate it!

dirtclod, padauk is my red wood of choice. Although now I think about it, it goes browny after some exposure to sun. Perhaps I should try bloodwood (can never seem to find the stuff). Ta for the hints about other exotically-coloured woods, I'll check it out.


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## dirtclod (May 7, 2008)

Good luck on finding yellowwood and smokewood. I''m in yellowwood's home range and it's rare. While smoketree rarely grows large enough to harvest. I've seen some examples of both. I may get a small yellowwood on the mill sometime. And I put some small smoketree in the firewood pile. That distinctive heartwood didn't seem to lose its color even when exposed for some time. There's nothing like them. I've been watching ebay for some time but they haven't been up for sale. I'm after our suppliers to drop off whatever they can find. I'll try to make a fortune off of them when they...:laughing:

Maybe black cherry for red?

I'm on the trail of Brazilian Bluewood for blue. But I can't seem to find any pictures of the wood. Lore has it that they used to make a blue dye from the wood. But info hints at the wood being red. I searched for more than an hour and I'm ready to give up on it. I couldn't find any first-hand experience with using it. Maybe Texas Timbers could shed some light on it since it grows in his home state?


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

dirtclod said:


> And you ought to see what the heartwood of native smoketree looks like.


That got me thinking. So I stepped out the back door and took a couple pictures across the alley to my neighbors yard. He planted one in the front yard and 4 more have grown up volunteer in the flower beds. I have had some volunteers pop up in my yard from wind dispersed seed, wrong spot and got mowed down. Pretty little tree, almost black leaves in the summer and really robust blooms early spring. Wonder if it is good turning stock ?...I guess I could find out, Ninja style he is camping this weekend :laughing:. Now I am curious. He has some dead limbs on the original tree. Not an itch I can't scratch with a bow saw, do him a favor and it is 60' from my back door.


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## GLL restoration (Feb 5, 2013)

*Yellowwood?*



dirtclod said:


> Good luck on finding yellowwood and smokewood. I''m in yellowwood's home range and it's rare. While smoketree rarely grows large enough to harvest. I've seen some examples of both. I may get a small yellowwood on the mill sometime. And I put some small smoketree in the firewood pile. That distinctive heartwood didn't seem to lose its color even when exposed for some time. There's nothing like them. I've been watching ebay for some time but they haven't been up for sale. I'm after our suppliers to drop off whatever they can find. I'll try to make a fortune off of them when they...:laughing:
> 
> Maybe black cherry for red?
> 
> I'm on the trail of Brazilian Bluewood for blue. But I can't seem to find any pictures of the wood. Lore has it that they used to make a blue dye from the wood. But info hints at the wood being red. I searched for more than an hour and I'm ready to give up on it. I couldn't find any first-hand experience with using it. Maybe Texas Timbers could shed some light on it since it grows in his home state?


 I always use yellowheart for my yellow needs,it's stable, colorfast and readily available.True yellow.


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## johnmark (Jul 21, 2012)

dirtclod said:


> Good luck on finding yellowwood and smokewood. I''m in yellowwood's home range and it's rare. While smoketree rarely grows large enough to harvest. I've seen some examples of both. I may get a small yellowwood on the mill sometime. And I put some small smoketree in the firewood pile. That distinctive heartwood didn't seem to lose its color even when exposed for some time. There's nothing like them. I've been watching ebay for some time but they haven't been up for sale. I'm after our suppliers to drop off whatever they can find. I'll try to make a fortune off of them when they...:laughing:
> 
> Maybe black cherry for red?
> 
> I'm on the trail of Brazilian Bluewood for blue. But I can't seem to find any pictures of the wood. Lore has it that they used to make a blue dye from the wood. But info hints at the wood being red. I searched for more than an hour and I'm ready to give up on it. I couldn't find any first-hand experience with using it. Maybe Texas Timbers could shed some light on it since it grows in his home state?











http://www.penturners.org/forum/f13/blue-brazilian-talow-wood-52127/


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

There are tens of thousands of square miles of pine (_Pinus contorta_) here in BC which have been killed off by the Mountain Pine Beetles (_Dendroctonus ponderosae_ and _D. brevicomis._) In the infection process, the bugs bring along a fungus which stains the wood a blue gray color. "Denim Pine" is a copyright, registered term in Canada for crud that we all call "bug-wood."
Bug wood cuts funny, carves funny, glues, nails & screws funny, looks dirty when finished. Even the pulp mills have had to adjust their digest process to cope with it. I built some kitchen storage units with really attractive bug wood = they looked great until I painted them with Flecto Varathane. After that, they look so ugly/dirty that I can't be bothered to waste the electrons to take a digital picture.

Sorry for the rant. I'm a retired dendrology prof. I used to like it for the novelty. But now, I look for something else. Other than that, I cannot think of any tree wood that's really any shade of blue (naturally).


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## sawdustfactory (Jan 30, 2011)

I've turned some blue mahoe. It ranges from a medium gray-blue to much more grayish than blue. I also think it's like paduak in that the blue fades over time with exposure to UV rays.


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## robert421960 (Dec 9, 2010)

some poplar has blue in the heart wood but it fades to brown also


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## WhistlingWoodworker (Jan 4, 2016)

*Blueish*

Buckeye burl has a light, light, blue-grey in it, but it is expensive and isn't a bold blue. The is a pine called "kill beetle pine", I believe, and it's colored by a natural stain when the tree is growing. I think it's minerals in the ground the tree soaks up, or maybe a fungus or mold of sorts. I just bought some Mahoe from a guy. I'll see how it is in person as far as color goes :thumbsup:


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## WhistlingWoodworker (Jan 4, 2016)

*Colors*








I'll always be amazed by all of the colors. Pink Ivory, Holly (white), Bloodwood, Redheart, Ebony, African Blackwood, Yellowheart, lignum vitae/verawood, Purpleheart, Padauk, Cocobolo (my favorite), Leopardwood, Koa, Wenge, I could ramble on


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## AJH (Apr 11, 2013)

I too am awed with differant woods colors hardness.And size.
Pink ivory is unbelievably hard and expensive.
If your pocket book can afford it try some snakewood.Makes a great knife handle.


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## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

Here is a table I made for my wife with some exotic woods like cocobolo, zebrawood, purplewood, yellowheart, bloodwood, maple burl, with some others, no blue woods though. I know this is an old thread but here it is anyway.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

I believe the blue you are wanting can only be obtained from using dyes. Any naturally blue wood I've seen looks more gray than blue.


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## Wood for Sale (Dec 28, 2015)

Those are some very interesting woods colors!


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## vegas urban lumber (Jun 25, 2016)

*blue wood*

yep chamise burl rind and stem, possibly after a fire over the burls.


http://woodbarter.com/threads/check-out-this-chamise-burl-end-cut.27877/#post-358387

a picture of some i recently cut at the link above


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

vegas urban lumber said:


> yep chamise burl rind and stem, possibly after a fire over the burls.
> 
> 
> http://woodbarter.com/threads/check-out-this-chamise-burl-end-cut.27877/#post-358387
> ...


I doubt the OP will see this post, the thread was started 07-03-2008.

Interesting link though.


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