On Wed, 14 Feb 2007 15:02:39 -0500, Don Wiss
wrote:

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).


just the finial, not the whole post?
The finial is PROBABLY the same wood as the rest
of the post. Drill into that, in a spot
where the new finial will cover it.
You should be able to decide if it's
pine/fir by smelling the sawdust.
Actually, if you can find a spot
that's not finished, you might be
able to heat it with a blowdrier enough
to smell.