my guess is white maple. i'd put money on it. if so, it's a very hard,
durable wood, and with a little refinishing it'll be beautiful.

granted, i might lose my money, but it wouldn't be the first time.

good luck,

-- dz


David wrote:
I recently purchased a baby changing table for $20.00 because it looked
rickety and cheap. My goal was to do a quick refinish job and tighten the
joints so it would be in better condition. (My plan is not to make something
that will last forever, just long enough to get our baby out of diapers).

The existing coating was a white pickled looking finish that was peeling
away and seemed more like melamine than finish. I started sanding the pieces
today and the wood underneath actually seems to be quite nice. It seems very
dense and sands very smooth without splintering. (My previous project was an
oak dresser that splintered if I used any kind of low-grit sandpaper on a
random-pad sander, so this seemed much easier to work with). In addition to
this, the grain on the wood is actually quite attractive to me and it seems
strange it would be nearly covered by the dull white finish. I am not sure
if that was the original factory finish or if it was added by one of the
previous owners.

Anyways, I was just curious if someone could help me figure out what kind of
wood it is? Comparing the grain to some desks I have, it looks like it might
be birch, but I am no expert, so I figure I would open this up to the
masses!

The pictures are he
http://www.kryogenic.org/wood/wood.htm

Let me know if you can identify this.