Rochester Makerspace

Maximum Students: 6    

Duration: 2.5 hrs    

Prerequisites: None

Have you ever found a piece of wood and wanted to know what it is? Or bought an expensive piece of wood and wondered if it was really what the vendor said it was? For the non-expert, wood identification is mysterious. You are likely to hear phrases like “This just looks like ….”, which is of limited help in learning the woods. Even experienced woodworkers are likely to run into samples that they have not seen before.

In this workshop we will cover differentiating softwoods from hardwoods and features that are used to further identify woods. Wood identification is based mostly on magnified views of end-grain anatomy, but we will also consider smell, hardness, specific gravity, fluorescence, luster, extractables etc. We will be using the book WOOD! Identifying and Using Hundreds of Woods Worldwide by Eric Meier and the associated website “The Wood Database” (https://www.wood-database.com/). This database can be used on your smartphone, but if you have a tablet or laptop you can bring, the larger screen might be helpful. We will have at least 38 different types (31 different species/ 141 pieces) of woods with both hardwoods and softwoods represented. Part of this workshop will be tailored to the interests of the participants. Feel free to bring your own known or unknown wood. Because many of the characteristics used in wood identification involve examining microscopic features of the end grain, please sand the end grain, preferably to at least 400 grit. (The samples we will use in the workshop have been sanded to 600 or 800 grit.) The workshop will be led by Harold Hoops. Harold has a Ph.D. in botany and has been a hobbyist woodworker most of his life.