Canadian Airgun Forum

Just came upon this nicely grained pallet wood today, in not too bad condition. Two planks are 3'' x 1 1/4'' x 36'', 4 are 3'' x 7/8'' x 36'', enough for 13xx/22xx grip panels. Also will look good on other pistols, my Webley Nemesis and Walther CP88 Competition come to mind.

I'm not sure about what wood it is exactly, I'm strongly leaning toward mahogany though Anyone can tell?

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If everything's so lovely yeah, then why don't I, why don't I, why don't I, why don't I feel lovely?

Have any closeups of the fibers and pores, maybe from a few different cutting angles?

If it was a pallet for some time, it's likely heavily stained from use. How heavy does the wood feel, compared to maple?

This wood feels a bit lighter than maple, but not by much. Not as hard though, and fibrous but sands well.

Some more pictures:

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If everything's so lovely yeah, then why don't I, why don't I, why don't I, why don't I feel lovely?

Mahogony and maple are really close in density. But there are some funny varieties of each.

A 2x zoom of the pores would help. But I'm not an expert. Just someone with a bit of experience and I can use the Wood Database: https://www.wood-database.com/

Pallet woods are difficult to identify, I feel, especially old ones. I tried google.

"Most customers' needs are met with a softwood pallet as these can be configured to handle the majority of loads. You will commonly see softwood pallets referred to as SPF softwood pallets. SPF stands for spruce, pine, fir as softwood pallets in Ontario are typically made from a combination of those three woods."
I have also heard of yellow pine, oak, Ironwood.

"Ironwood is a small understory tree that can be found growing from southern Ontario north to Lake Nipissing
and Sault Ste. Marie, as well as populations in the Northwestern region to Kenora."

We had ironwood growing behind our house in South Western Ontario, although the trees weren't large enough for pallets, however in other locations they certainly are.
It is very heavy, dense wood with a specific gravity greater than Hickory, which would also make a good pallet wood.
Pallets could be made of Ramin (from Asia) which is similar to hickory in appearance, but lacks the hickory's strength.

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Best Wishes
Daryl

That is too light-colored to be ironwood, unless there's a variety I'm unfamiliar with. And ironwood is almost as expensive as gold.

It was a weed for us, but made really nice war clubs.

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Best Wishes
Daryl

Definitely not a soft wood. This morning I cut the planks in smaller pieces, the wood cut cleanly without tearing, like maple or birch. There was a pleasant odour that I can't identify. I sealed the ends with a 50/50 mix of Danish oil and mineral spirit, it's easier to see the end grain now.

Hope the new pictures help.

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If everything's so lovely yeah, then why don't I, why don't I, why don't I, why don't I feel lovely?

I think your task has been made more complicated by the presence of spalting, i.e. a little bit of a fungal infection in the wood. Spalting and maybe some moisture, is it dry?

It might be elm.

I don't know.... but looks like pallet wood to me LMAO sorry I can not help it sometimes. Joking over, it has the color of black cheery in it, be nice to see how it looks sanded up a bit. Hope it turns out good for you.