Replies

1. 
   StuartE | Jun 05, 2006 12:11am | #1

   Looks like paolo. I got some thru mail order and the grain and color looks just lije yours. I believe it comes from S. America. Hope that helps!

2. 
   Rich14 | Jun 05, 2006 01:02am | #2

   Padauk.

   http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/padauk.htm

   http://www.exotichardwoods-africa.com/paduakafrican.htm

   http://www.canfloor.com/guide_wood_padauk.htm

   http://www.woodworking.org/WC/Woods/180.html

   Rich

3. 
   splintergroupie | Jun 05, 2006 01:25am | #3

   Hie thee to "Irfanview", download it for free, and play with the resizing feature. I have a high speed connection, and only got through the first two before i ran out of patience.

   It's African padauk, by the way, and a very nice specimen, too.

1. 
   miller | Jun 05, 2006 01:56am | #5

   Looking at some online pics, It does look like Padauk.  It does however have a much more orange color than the other Padauk I have.  If my wife figures out how to shrink these pictures I will post some more pics next to some of the other Padauk I have.

   Edited 6/4/2006 6:58 pm ET by miller

1. 
   splintergroupie | Jun 05, 2006 04:08am | #6

   Padauk can come in a range of colors from pinkish to the deepest orange and can originate in various places, though Africa is the likeliest source, others being the Andaman Islands and Myanmar predominantly. You can get some beautiful grain patterns in it from interlocked grain. I was lucky enough to get some weird boards once that had purple blobs in them, with creamy swirls (not sapwood)...looked like something from Hubble. I used that wood in box top panels, which sold extremely well. It's smell when it's freshly cut reminds me of walking into a cigar shop. It's very stable and fairly hard, but rather easy to work, if rather dusty. The color has a tendency to bleed, esp with an oil finish; don't set any heirloom doilies on an oiled padauk table. When i would do a lot of work with padauk or purpleheart, my blonde hair would take on a purplish-pinkish tinge for a while, temporarily dyed by the dust. I made about a dozen boxes using deep orange padauk like yours with royal-blue stained-glass for the top panel; the blue and orange were quite complimentary to one another.

1. 
   miller | Jun 05, 2006 06:18am | #7

   I DID IT!!!!!!!!  I hope?  Actually my wife did it, but who is keeping score.  It nearly caused a divorce with me and her at the computer trying to figure this out, but the pictures are smaller.  The deeper, darker colored wood was the one I was inquiring about the other is some Padauk I had in the shop.  While searching the web I found some that looked like both.  In conclusion: If its not Padauk, that's what I am going to call it anyway.  

   Thank everyone for their response.

   P.S.  A couple of pics are blurry, sorry

   
1. 
   Rich14 | Jun 05, 2006 06:34am | #8

   Miller,You either have a terrible camera or you are a terrible photographer. But if you are referring to the bright orange sample in the pics, it is padauk. One of the most gorgeous woods in the world. A joy to work, if you don't react to the dust and fragrance. Very stable.Enjoy the brilliant, vermillion, fresh-finished color. It will darken to a maroon, eventually. Some pieces fade rapidly, a very few, extremely slowly. But all darken. Despite nostrums advertised to prevent fading, nothing but keeping it out of direct sunlight helps.Enjoy.Rich

2. 
   miller | Jun 05, 2006 06:55am | #9

   I think I'm a bad photographer, but I don't make my living taking pictures thankfully.  Thanks for the info.

3. 
   John_D | Jun 05, 2006 10:45pm | #12

   One more thing.  You've resized it fine, but if you save as JPG instead of BMP, the pictures' files will be much, much smaller with little to no practical effect on their appearance.

   Hope this helps. :)My goal is for my work to outlast me.  Expect my joinery to get simpler as time goes by.

4. 
   Knotscott | Jun 05, 2006 01:37am | #4

   Padauk was my first thought too.

5. 
   Pondfish | Jun 05, 2006 01:46pm | #10

   Paduak.  To be certain, cut a small piece.  The freshly cut side will be bright orange and there will be a very sharp, irritating smell from the dust.  Put a small spot of shellac on it--the alcohol will leach out the red color if it is paduak.

   For the photography, you need a macro lens (or macro option if digital) for extreme closeups.  Just like you can't read anything 1" from your face, most cameras can't focus that close.

   Recommending the use of "Hide Signatures" option under "My Preferences" since 2005
1. 
   miller | Jun 05, 2006 04:40pm | #11

   I had the camera set for close ups, its suppose to be for pictures taken 28" or closer. 

    

   Thanks I will give it a cut and see.