So I thought this was BL. But upon cutting it it wasnt the right color inside, it didn't have the smell I thiught BL had, and the bark wasnt as deeply furrowed as BL....in my very limited experience. It was not as brittle nor as heavy as oak. But it split as easily as oak. I asked a member here who thought it might be cottonwood (and who will remain anonymous lest their guess be wrong). Blessings and thanks, Sirchopsalittle
In the first pic, the piece with noodles on it...that bark reminds me of chestnut oak. But the 2nd picture, the log definitely doesn't look like chestnut. I recognize it and feel like I should know what it is, but it's not clicking right now....
Growth rings look too tight for cottonwood. The center pith and the open grain on the half round you noodled looks like ash to me. The furrows and ridges on the bark look like ash too (cottonwood ridges are more rounded) although the reddish brown color of the inside of the bark is rather suspicious. I’ll stick with ash until wood whisperer Brad chimes in.
I'm thinking ash from the way the bark criss crosses, but the ash I'm used to is much lighter in color.
Not in a place I can look up trees at the moment, but ash does have several flavors....green, black, white perhaps.. Sca
Looks like the bark is peeling away, does it show any signs of the ash borer underneath? Or any other insect? Here's ash borer damage. Looks like how I scribbled on my parents wall when I was 3....
I didn’t read all the words of the op, like light and easy splitting, so I formally retract my response. I cut elm today, so I only looked at the wood coloring without reading.
My first vote in my head was sassafras but then I thought, no, he would have smelled it and then I got to looking at the end and the growth rings, and the bark, and that is when I decided to say black locust. EDIT: I reread the OP and he didn't say it was light (sassafras is) but he did say it isn't as heavy as oak, and split easily (and sassafras does). So, to me, that certainly sounds like sassafras. If it is not sassafras or black locust, coulda fooled me! As for appearance, to me, it certainly looks like black locust or sassafras. Trees are interesting. If it seasons such that it becomes uber-lighweight, it's another strong sign of it being sassafras. OTOH, smell it!
How about Norway Maple? Apparently a mature Norway Maple has bark with a criss-crossed pattern, similar to White Ash. The wood has a Maple-ish look to it. Sugar Maples hold leaves, did this have any leaves?
Im the anonymous member just dont tell anyone! I looked quick at the first pic when i was half asleep this morning when he PMed me. After seeing all the pics id say ash too. Ive never cut cottonwood, but am familiar with its bark and limb structure. Sirchopsalot you did good as its ash. Sorry for raining on the parade this morning! Zoom in on the third pic and you can see some trace of EAB on the barkless wood.
I was thinking Sassfras, but with no noticeable odor, Catalpa is a possibility. Tree growing in the back ground looks like Catalpa also.
The furrows are shallow enough to be ash....correct pattern relative to green ash I've cut previously. Almost zero smell. Yup. Pretty sure I noticed those nifty squiglies. Sca
