What is this wood worth? Please help.

A friend gave me some planks of wood today.... quartersawn curly cherry that has been stickered for at least 15 years. I do not have a moisture meter, but at some point the ends were waxed. The story goes that this wood was imported to Ohio from Oregon some years ago and was used to build hammered dulcimers. In their rough-milled state, each measures roughly 40"x8.75"x.50".

I spent a couple minutes with a plane to get a better look at the figure. Here are some pics.




Check out the figure in the lower right side of this pic!)




(The mineral spirits have evaporated in this last one)

A very nice gift indeed!!!

Turns out he has more and asked my thoughts on its value. I have no idea - anyone want to help out with a ballpark figure on this? He estimates that he has about 40 of these planks.

Any thoughts?

Nice score! I have a similar piece in my shop, still stickered from the lumberyard I bought it at, labeled quarter sawn Superior Figure/Curly. It's 66 3/4" long, 5" wide and 3/4" thick. It cost $38.

I don't see much curl. Nor does it look like cherry. Looks nicely quartered, though. I wouldn't pay a premium for it.

Are you sure it's cherry? With those, wide, hard grain lines, it doesn't look like any cherry I've seen. It is notoriously hard to ID wood from photos but with that said, it looks like cedar to me and that makes more sense if it came from Oregon.

Kent Chasson said:

Are you sure it's cherry? With those, wide, hard grain lines, it doesn't look like any cherry I've seen. It is notoriously hard to ID wood from photos but with that said, it looks like cedar to me and that makes more sense if it came from Oregon.

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Thanks for your reply (thanks to all replies so far). I can't swear to anything. I was told it was cherry (and I have never worked cherry) and even when I worked it with a plane it didn't smell like any cedar that I have come across (and I do have experience with cedars). But it is a touch lighter (weight, not color) than I would have expected. Hmmmm.... Curious to see what other replies come in - and whatever the species I would still like to be able to give my friend some answer to the ballpark figure question.

Smell it and if it's cedar, as I agree it looks, you will know. All cedars in my experience are quite aromatic. If it has just a dry sort of smell, I suspect redwood, which does grow in southern coastal Oregon. Since I don't see medulary display, I'd guess it's more than a couple of degrees off-quarter. Also, NOT curly IMO. I imagine this is all a bit anti-climactic, and I apologize for my part in that.

Edited as our posts collided in passing. I'm going with Redwood as you smell no cedar. Sells for between $2 and $10 a board foot. Realistically, $4. But you need enough material for it to be worth the buyer's trip to see it, so it can be a tough sell. If it is within 2 degrees of actual quarter, it make good instrument tops according to some. I've used it for guitars, but it's not my favorite, and your has too inconsistent of grain spacing to be consider better than adequate.

Bruce Sexauer said:

Smell it and if it's cedar, as I agree it looks, you will know. All cedars in my experience are quite aromatic. If it has just a dry sort of smell, I suspect redwood, which does grow in southern coastal Oregon. Since I don't see medulary display, I'd guess it's more than a couple of degrees off-quarter. Also, NOT curly IMO. I imagine this is all a bit anti-climactic, and I apologize for my part in that.

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Bruce, no apologies necessary - on the contrary, I appreciate candor (as much as I appreciate your kind tact). I am looking for information because someone asked my opinion and I wasn't informed enough to give a good one.
It most definitely does not smell like cedar. Another friend described its smell as "like a #2 pencil".

My house has custom cabinets and doors and the wood looks very similar to that. I can ask the builder the wood type. some type of fir I think.

Does not look like any Cherry I have ever seen. I would guess it is not, from those pics. Cedar sounds at least possible. The wetted grain makes it a little harder to tell. Cedar has a distinct smell, it is very lightweight, and very soft. It also looks like Redwood. Redwood has a different smell than Cedar, especially when wetted. Does it smell like a hot tub? I would almost go as far as say, no possible
way it is Cherry.. None.. count the rings, imagine that tree.. not Cherry. Especially in the bottom pic, the 'sparkles' toward the middle of the pic, and off to the right.. Redwood 'breaks' like that, so does Cedar.



Redwood, Cedar, Fir, in that order. Probably not Fir. If that is Redwood, personally, I might use it as a top, because it approaches the tightness of grain that redwood is easily available in. Still too wide for me. If it is Cedar, I would keep looking, as that is pretty loose grain for Cedar, but I guess I live in Cedar country, and have a stack of QS old growth Red Cedar with way more uke tops in it that I would care to count, and super tight grain, some of it as tight as it gets, really.

Many of the '#2 Pencils' were made from Cedar. Not Eastern Aromatic Cedar, but White Cedar, and Red Cedar, from the West Coast, much of it from Oregon..

And as mentioned above, no medulliary rays, so it is not dead QS.

Didn't want to say anything, 'cause, what do I know, but here's some shots of the cherry plank I was referring to earlier, wetted with naphtha, for comparison purposes:



Here's another one--you can just follow the link: http://i.imgur.com/fYBv64w.jpg

And here's one of redwood:

Matt Clara said:

Didn't want to say anything, 'cause, what do I know, but here's some shots of the cherry plank I was referring to earlier, wetted with naphtha, for comparison purposes:

Here's another one--you can just follow the link: http://i.imgur.com/fYBv64w.jpg

And here's one of redwood:

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Matt, that cherry is beautiful. Thanks for posting those pics. I gave my friend a link to this thread. Thanks again.

Since I currently hail from Oregon, I feel I should chime in. That is likely 1/4 sawn redwood or possible douglas fir. Either way, it looks like quality stuff. Get your mitts on all 40 planks.

You're welcome, Tobin. Happy to be of help.