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First Friday garage sale since the Covid and I paid $1 for a piece of wood.

It is 72" long, 9-1/2" wide at minimum, and 1/4" thick. The surface is moderately hard and it appears to be a little splintery. There is a slight cup in it that I am sure I can deal with.

It will make a guitar with non-bookmatched back, and non matched sides, but there is enough interesting stuff that I am sure I can get it close.

Anybody have a guess as to what it is? The colors are pretty accurate.

I also got a nice full 1" thick X 7" wide X 7' long clear cherry board for $1.

Ed

I have some oddball zebrawood that I picked up in a stack of wood a year or so ago and it looks very similar. It's got more yellow and orange than I typically see with zebrawood. It's also more brittle than the rest. Just a guess. It's pretty for sure!

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It does look a lot like Zebra. Maybe when Zebra ages it yellows? The stuff I have is more towards white but still that piece has that look to it.

Osage Orange ?

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Blue Ring Acoustics
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You can do the scratch and sniff test. Zebrawood smells like the north end of a zebra going south.

Ebiara?

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

From Cook woods:
"Ebiara, Berlinia Bracteosa, (or Red Zebra Wood) grows in equatorial West Africa in Cameroon, Gabon, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Congo and Zaire. It is commonly called Mposso in West Africa. The wood that is produced from this tree looks like a hybrid cross of Zebra wood and Bubinga."

Bubra?
Zebringa?

Elephino? - oh! that was a different cross....

Wood species is hard to determine from a picture, exotics doubly so.
If you have a "fat" 1/4 inch you might be able to resaw it by first ripping it in narrower pieces and resawing with thinner blades.

Nice!

That’s probably what I have too, good to know what it is.


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Thanks all

Clay, my smeller ain't so good, but there IS a slight musty smell when I scratch it. And it is a thin 1/4", so not getting 2 slices out of it.

Looks like Ebiara is the best guess so far. And one of the descriptions says "when quartersawn, this timber resembles Zebrawood but without the Zebrawood odor". Wonder what quarter sawing has to do with odor - any way you cut it would open up the pores.

I am now woking on a Martin 00 12 fret that Is a great size - might do that again with this piece

Ed

Ed[/quote]

Hi Ed,
"Scratch and sniff" is actually more like "saw or sand" when it comes to wood working.
I think the statement "when quartersawn this timber resembles Zebrawood but without the Zebrawood odor" should be taken to mean that Ebiara only when quartersawn looks like Zebrawood, but can be distinguished from it because it doesn't have the barnyard smell.
As uniformly grained as that piece is from top to bottom two consecutive cuts will probably look more book matched than some of the rosewood I've dealt with. Even without resawing it looks like you have enough to make a Back and Side set, even for a dread if you were so inclined.

To get a good match for the back you can 'flitch' match (I think it's called). Cut two consecutive 22" pieces and flip the second one upside down. It's not a book-match, but sometimes it's so close most people can't tell. It works especially well with long, straight grain like the board you have.

The grain in the second photo looks very much like the grain this photo of ebiara from the Wood Database website:

Their description includes: Heartwood color ranges from golden yellow brown to a deeper reddish brown, frequently with darker black streaks and stripes. No characteristic odor.

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J

Looks like it - has anyone used this wood? A good bending wood? The texture and weight remind me of walnut.

Thanks all

Ed

I'm making a ukulele with it right now. It often has a ropey figure which I like the look of. It bent easily and stayed flat across the width at .075". Sanded easily enough. A little coarse textured. The tap tone was a little dull. I suspect above average damping for a tonewood.

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Ken Franklin
clumsy yet persistent
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