Wood Species

[OutoftheWoodwork]

Good Morning, Gang:

Over the weekend, Ken went to our daughter's and while there, I put him on a hunt for some limbs for different projects. Bless his heart (and our daughters) they got me some yesterday afternoon. Amanda went so far as to put her raincoat on and galoshes when some unexpected rain popped up. However, she made it a point to tell daddy "make sure mom knows I did this for her some wood!" lol What a brat.

So in this wood, I got a branch from a tree that Ken says would be considered soft, he thinks, since it bends easily in the wind (reminded him of those old cartoons when the trees bent like a slingshot). The shape of this limb is what really caught the attention of Ken and Amanda. It has almost a twist to it. So after cutting the tree down, he cut off a limb and brought it home. Then he cut a couple slices off of it. Question is: WTH is it? I sent pictures to John this morning, and he said I should ask here.

[Nickp]

Any chance you might have a leaf or some bark from the tree...?

Maybe maple...?

[OutoftheWoodwork]

@Nickp if you can zoom in on the top picture, there was but one lone leaf on the branch and that had been partly chewed by an insect of some sort

UPDATE: Called the boyfriend; (Amanda is at work). He calls this a "Twizzler Tree" because when you look at it, it reminded him of a Twizzler. He said the bark is smooth, that the main trunk is about the size of a softball, and the caterpillars or some sort of insect enjoyed the leaves on this one. He's going to send pictures shortly, and I'll post them here.

[OutoftheWoodwork]

Okay got a couple pictures, and some more description:

He says the edge of the leaves are like a fine finish saw tooth blade; "sharp & spiky." And like I said in my last post, the bark is smooth to the touch. He had me lmao at his description of the tree, calling it a Twizzler. He said that's exactly what it reminded him of when he saw it. Forgive the quality of the pictures of the leaves. His camera on his phone isn't so great, but here it is...

[Cherryville Chuck]

There are similarities between that and these beech pictures: https://mortonarb.org/plant-and-protect ... can-beech/#!

[Stick486]

Elm...

[Stick486]

any berries???

[Nickp]

I'm thinking Elm also...but the bark doesn't look right...smooth versus "barky"...

[Stick486]

Odor???

[Stick486]

I'm thinking Elm also...but the bark doesn't look right...smooth versus "barky"...

Hackberry???

[Nickp]

I dunno...maybe Willow with the smooth bark...?

[Stick486]

but the bark doesn't look right..

ELM BARK...

[Stick486]

Workability: Can be a challenge to work because of interlocked grain, especially on quartersawn surfaces. Planing can cause tearout and/or fuzzy surfaces. Poor dimensional stability. Glues, stains, and finishes well. Responds well to steam bending, and holds nails and screws well.

[Stick486]

maybe Willow

The leaves say no...

[OutoftheWoodwork]

@Stick486@Nickp Ken says no odor, but super flimsy. Also, No width, little bigger around than a softball, and just 20 - 25 ft tall

[Stick486]

but super flimsy.

flimsy (noodle) or flexible (bends easily)???

ELM..

[OutoftheWoodwork]

@Stick486 Ken says "bends easily"

But doesn't Elm get big in diameter?

[OutoftheWoodwork]

@Stick486 :

Wych Elm Maybe? Look at what I just found:

[Herb Stoops]

Witches broom stick. They make broom handles out of it and shred the bark for the bristles.
If you are going to carve a sign out of that "Wafer" give it a heavy coat of paint both sides and put a weight on it and let it dry for a year. I doubt you can save it though.
It will check like a pie.
Herb

[OutoftheWoodwork]

Witches broom stick. They make broom handles out of it and shred the bark for the bristles.

There's no Witches Broom Stick tree anywhere that I can find. Only a disease, Herb.

No intentions of cutting a sign with it. Want to know the species.

[OutoftheWoodwork]

There are similarities between that and these beech pictures: https://mortonarb.org/plant-and-protect ... can-beech/#!

Looking at pictures, it could be beech, too, but the truth is in the type of wood. but blue beech twists, like muscle wood, but both are described as being hard woods???

[Stick486]

But doesn't Elm get big in diameter?

.
when it gets 65~100' tall... then it will have about 3~3½' trunk diameter...
.

Wych Elm Maybe?

.
the tree you have, the wood is a bit too light in color, I think to be a Wych Elm...
Also, Wych Elm are pretty rare...

[Stick486]

Is beech soft, or hard?

hard...

[OutoftheWoodwork]

okay @Stick486 I'm stuck then. It looks just like blue beech/muscle tree with the twists, and the leaves match. But Ken is saying the wood was soft. Chainsaw went right through it. UGH!!! I don't want to use this if it's useless lol

[Nickp]

Make a lamp out of it...the twist will look nice...

[Stick486]

Make a lamp out of it...the twist will look nice...

for sure...

[Stick486]

But Ken is saying the wood was soft.

.
have Ken define his description of ''soft''...
Elm at one time the preferred wood in/for wooden ship shipbuilding.. (planks, masts, whalers)
Balsawood is classed as a hard wood.... it's Janka is 67~90#...
Elm is 850~1500....

[OutoftheWoodwork]

But Ken is saying the wood was soft.

.
have Ken define his description of ''soft''...

He says just like in the cartoons, you could throw a lasso around it, up in the branches, pull on it, and it would bend; like a slingshot.

[Stick486]

it would bend; like a slingshot.

that's not soft.. it's flexible because of the interlocking grain...
softness relates to a pillow or a rock...

[Cherryville Chuck]

I have Siberian elms around my yard and I've cut some of it up. The wood is brown to brown red in color. The leaves have saw tooth like projections on the leaves and are narrower. The bark is rough. It's medium hard like white birch, maybe a bit harder. The tiny teeth on those leaves should narrow it down. Look up toothed leaf hardwoods. Look for those small teeth that are well spaced apart.

[OutoftheWoodwork]

Amanda has numerous of these trees on her property, and they all twist like like the licorice "Twizzler". The only tree I'm finding that twists like the picture above and has the fine tooth saw blade leaves is the blue beech or muscle tree. The American beech has the same leaves, but the trunk doesn't "twist" like this. The Muscle Tree (it has numerous other names) or Blue Beech looks like the trunk. But I can't get a definite, since Amanda's boyfriend has a p o s camera lol

Okay, bedtime. The yawns are taking over. You sleuths let me know what you find out. I'm thinking Blue Beech at this point. No other trees twist, or have the "muscle lines" and the same leaves. Although the leaves match on the elm, it doesn't have the "twist" or "pronounced muscle" effect on the trunk. I need a tree doctor lol

[Cherryville Chuck]

You can rule out elm because of the color of the wood.

[Herb Stoops]

Son-of - a Beech....................
Herb

[OutoftheWoodwork]

Son-of - a Beech....................
Herb

LOL Herb!!!

[HandyDan]

Iron Wood aka American Hornbeam

image.png

American Hornbeam leaf

image.png

[Stick486]

Iron Wood aka American Hornbeam

.
BINGO!!!

[Nickp]

Ya nailed it, Dan...!

[Biagio]

That the same hornbeam they make chisel handles with?