Another hint you can give us is to tell us how hard the wood is. Take a ball
point pen and apply some light pressure and let us know if it leaves a mark.
The pine and fir will be soft.



"HotRod" wrote in message
...
post this on alt.binaries.pictures.woodworking. IF you can get a close up
of a spot that is chipped or has the stain removed that would help.



"Don Wiss" wrote in message
...
I have an 1891 row house in Brooklyn. One of my newel post finials is
missing. But neighbors with identical houses still have theirs. So a
friend
of mine that is adept with a lathe has offered to make me a new one. We
have photographed and measured it. But what is the wood? A fellow that I
once was going to hire to make it said white oak. Then my friend thought
it
was Douglas fir. But a friend of his that comes from Eastern Canada says
it
is definitely yellow pine, and pointed out several features that are
inconsistent with Douglas fir. Now the only pine in my house is the
floors.
And the wainscoting near the finial is oak. My friend says oak is easier
to
turn. What do you guys think it is? [Warning, this was not reduced in
size,
so it is 441MB.]

http://donwiss.com/finial.jpg

Don www.donwiss.com (e-mail link at home page bottom).