Just reclaimed some half decent 1x4's about 4 feet long from a
pallet. The boards look like walnut, and while not blemish free would
be suitable for small projects. I have some old walnut boards at home
that are at least 50-60 years old and compared to those, these
reclaimed boards seem very light weight. I can't do a direct
comparison right now but was wondering if this wood could be something
else? Some kind of dark colored Asian wood perhaps? It seems pretty
hard, I can just barely make an impression with my thumb nail by
pressing hard and there is no particular odor. Maybe walnut isn't
what it used to be? Thanks for your time.

Mike in Arkansas wrote:

Just reclaimed some half decent 1x4's about 4 feet long from a
pallet. The boards look like walnut, and while not blemish free would
be suitable for small projects. I have some old walnut boards at home
that are at least 50-60 years old and compared to those, these
reclaimed boards seem very light weight. I can't do a direct
comparison right now but was wondering if this wood could be something
else? Some kind of dark colored Asian wood perhaps? It seems pretty
hard, I can just barely make an impression with my thumb nail by
pressing hard and there is no particular odor. Maybe walnut isn't
what it used to be? Thanks for your time.

Almost certainly in a pallet it's an exotic--I'd say the chances are
less than 1/1000 that's it's black walnut. That said, if it works well,
no reason not to use it. Lots of these are a pita to work which is why
it is pallet wood...

"Mike in Arkansas" wrote in message
oups.com...
Just reclaimed some half decent 1x4's about 4 feet long from a
pallet. The boards look like walnut, and while not blemish free would
be suitable for small projects. I have some old walnut boards at home
that are at least 50-60 years old and compared to those, these
reclaimed boards seem very light weight. I can't do a direct
comparison right now but was wondering if this wood could be something
else? Some kind of dark colored Asian wood perhaps? It seems pretty
hard, I can just barely make an impression with my thumb nail by
pressing hard and there is no particular odor. Maybe walnut isn't
what it used to be? Thanks for your time.


It could be, Pallets are made up of most any throw away wood. I have seen
Mahogany and Oak often. Typically the wood is way too contaminated with
sand or dirt to warrant using.

Could be poplar, the poor man's walnut. Poplar is also lighter. Hmmm...

H.

"hylourgos" wrote in message
oups.com...
Could be poplar, the poor man's walnut. Poplar is also lighter. Hmmm...

T'would be my guess... I picked up some largish (3x3) pallet bits last week
that were a mix of poplar, cottonwood (or some other low-density whitewood)
and mahogany. After I ripped about 1/16 off each side and squared the ends,
the wood (especially the "mahogany") is pretty nice stuff.

Jason

hylourgos wrote:
Could be poplar, the poor man's walnut. Poplar is also lighter.
Hmmm...

The poplar you have seen is waaaaaaaay different from what I have seen.

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I bought a large load of luan. Some of the were colored like walnut. The
grain was completely different, but the color was about the same.

It is much more likely to be be some obsure tropical wood than walnut. But
like someone else said, if it looks nice, what difference does it make what
it is called.

It was somewhere outside Barstow when "hylourgos"
wrote:

Could be poplar, the poor man's walnut. Poplar is also lighter. Hmmm...

Poplar that's confusable with walnut ? That's some funny trees you
guys in Leftpondia have.



My guess is Random Tropical Stuff, and not walnut. Can you see annual
rings in it, or is it a typically tropical where seasonal variation is
minimal ?

Around here the poor man's walnut is called butternut. I don't think
I've ever seen nuts on a poplar tree

Mike in Arkansas wrote:

Just reclaimed some half decent 1x4's about 4 feet long from a
pallet. The boards look like walnut, and while not blemish free would
be suitable for small projects. I have some old walnut boards at home
that are at least 50-60 years old and compared to those, these
reclaimed boards seem very light weight. I can't do a direct
comparison right now but was wondering if this wood could be something
else? Some kind of dark colored Asian wood perhaps? It seems pretty
hard, I can just barely make an impression with my thumb nail by
pressing hard and there is no particular odor. Maybe walnut isn't
what it used to be? Thanks for your time.

There are a lot of asian woods that look *sort of* like walnut. If it's
splintery, it might be luan/phillipino mahogany. If it's insanely
heavy, there's an acacia called ifit that loks like that. Can you post
a pic to news:alt.binaries.pictures.woodworking?

Dave in Fairfax
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My guess is especially if it is on the heavy side, teak. I use
reclaimed pallets in my business and have come across a few of these.
As they are left outside for long periods the wood does not seem to
deteriorate which confirms it for me.

Oh come on, Mike is a bit curious, needs a few suggestions. All you
seem to have done is increase the possibilities. Without seeing and
smelling the stuff how can anybody give a good guess ?

Dzine wrote:

Oh come on, Mike is a bit curious, needs a few suggestions. All you
seem to have done is increase the possibilities. Without seeing and
smelling the stuff how can anybody give a good guess ?

True, although one thing just came to me. If the pallet is any kind of used
at all, and it looks like walnut, it probably isn't. I used some walnut
scraps as pegs to hold ropes to secure a tree I transplanted last year, and
I've just come from having a look at them. A year in the weather, which is
typical of the life of the average pallet, has yielded a dreary gray wood
that looks about like, well, pretty much any other weathered gray wood.
There's not much to suggest that this is walnut at all.

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