maybe sweetgum and not poplar after all?

[CarvedTones]

I posted the other day about having too much poplar and a major reason was picking up what I thought were gum rounds that looked and smelled like poplar when I cut into them. I had expected the gum heartwood to be dark. Anyway, after a couple of days of exposure, I am beginning to think it is not poplar after all.

In the picture below, there is a piece of poplar that I am sure is poplar in the foreground and the half log behind it is the possible gum:

more pictures of the possible gum (or is it ???):

 

[CarvedTones]

A few more notes...

I pretty much ignored the thin streak of dark in the very center as I have seen that present or not in just about all types of wood.

There is a distinct heartwood/sapwood line. There is a lot of yellow in the mix in the heartwood and none in the sapwood. The difference is subtle in the logs, but some too small splits that went into the kindling pile turned substantially more yellow in just a day. I should have snapped a couple of those, though I expected the top picture to show the yellow better than it does. It was seeing those splits yesterday afternoon that made me do the double take and think maybe it isn't poplar.

When these were fresh cut, the heartwood looked darker and the line was far more distinct.

It has that poplar smell. For those who haven't worked fresh poplar, smelling it is generally not the highlight of your day. It isn't terrible but it isn't very pleasant. Kind of like something bitter being brewed.

The ends were sealed with AnchorSeal weeks ago and it has been in the weather some since, so the ends don't really hold many clues.

It still bugs me that all the web pics I see of sweetgum show darker wood.

 

[scsmith42]

Andy, that sure looks like sweetgum to me...

 

[CarvedTones]

I rived a bunch of blanks:

and stuck them on a shelf in the attic:

the ends were coated with AnchorSeal a few weeks back when still in short log ("rounds") form.

Is that likely to work? I expect them to be dry in a month or two sitting there, but are they likely to be intact? I am okay with some loss but if it is likely to be more than 50% I will stick them somewhere else.

What throws me for a loop is that all the sweetgum heartwood pictures I find are of brown wood and I have yellow. Will it darken as it dries?

 

[Travis Porter]

Is it heavy? I find sweet gum to be a LOT heavier than Poplar green or dried. From the way it split out, it does look like gum...

 

[CarvedTones]

Thinking back on picking it up, I remembered a few details that make me feel fairly sure it is gum. I just was mystified by splitting it open and finding light colored wood with what seemed to be a light green cast and that smell. The green cast has quickly changed to yellow. Anyway, what I remembered is that the guy had cut down 2 trees, a poplar and a gum, and he pointed out some of the sweet gum balls that he would be happy to no longer find in his yard. I got 4 sweet gum rounds and one poplar and split and cut the poplar(hey Trent, remember the over size poplar split I got stuck in your saw?). There was no doubt in my mind at that time. It just blew me away to find it so different than what I expected and I jumped to the conclusion that I had not paid enough attention. It is gum; it just seems I can't chew it and walk is all...

 

[James Davis]

Not to argue with you Andy, but I have never been able to split Sweet Gum. The interlocking grain makes splitting It almost impossible. We used to throw it away when I was younger because I didn't want to split it.

JMTCW

James

 

[CarvedTones]

I didn't say it was easy...

It took several blows to get the steel wedge in and several more on the rock maple wedge to get the pieces apart. The initial split of the round was a real bear. So you aren't arguing; you are reinforcing the opinion...

 

[Dragon]

So......................are you saying that now you WANT some Poplar?????????

 

[CarvedTones]

No. I have some poplar; enough that I would not intentionally get more but I thought I had. I don't need to go looking for anything right now. This was just another sharing of my addled brain...

 

[Trent Mason]

So Andy, does that mean I have two pieces of sweetgum sitting down in the shop? :gar-La;

 

[CarvedTones]

No, that poplar is poplar. In fact, it was splitting the gum after having recently cut that poplar that made me suspect I was confused (which is always somewhat accurate ). With each passing day of exposure the gum look less like poplar. It is not dark like walnut, but the heartwood has tanned a bit. I think my ability to lose track of time may have something to do with the bright yellow; I had it in humidity out of direct sublight for long enough to have started some spalting. It is a bit more evident in another one of the splits I stared splitting into smaller chunks last night. I can drop off a chunk that looks to have a few blanks in it.