Field maple?

[Les Symonds]

I acquired this piece of timber as a half short-log with bark on, fully dipped in wax, and amongst a batch of a couple of hundred pieces that I bought a year or so ago; so I had no fixed idea of what it was, but I'm assuming that it's field maple. It had some serious cracks and was destined for the fire, but I liked the depth of the piece so I gave it a go. The colour variations are amazing and made the effort well worth it.
Lots of copper/CA filling and it took a finish very easily.
Approx 6" diam and 5" deep.
C&C always welcome....Les

[seventhdevil]

nice looking effect.

i don't think it's field maple but the photos are blurry when you zoom in so i can't be 100% sure but i think it's hawthorn.

any chance of a clear pic of the endgrain?

[Les Symonds]

I'm quite sure that it's not hawthorn, or any of the other thorns....the bark was rippled, but smooth, whereas hawthorn bark is very coarse and subdivided into platelets.
Les

[edbanger]

Cracking piece Les 

All the best

Ed

[andy44]

Good looking piece Les, I like the rim shape and the foot sets it off nicely
cheers
Andy

[farmerphil]

Nice work

Phil

[Les Symonds]

nice looking effect.

i don't think it's field maple but the photos are blurry when you zoom in so i can't be 100% sure but i think it's hawthorn.

any chance of a clear pic of the endgrain?

Steve...Having studied the end grain very closely, I'm more convinced than ever that it is Field Maple. A comparison with Eric Meier's data shows remarkable similarity; the colour of my end-grain timber is identical to the photo-sample in the book and it is diffuse porous with very small, closed pores.
Les

[ken rodgers]

Hi Les
Nice looking bowl - good shape - like it.
It's certainly the right colour for field maple

[seventhdevil]

I'm quite sure that it's not hawthorn, or any of the other thorns....the bark was rippled, but smooth, whereas hawthorn bark is very coarse and subdivided into platelets.
Les

it may look like field maple but that description of the bark is not what young field maples look like. the are coarse and cracked (similar to hawthorn) and not smooth. sounds like you have a maple but it must be a different species.

could it be a young norway?

[georg]

   Would not like to even guess the wood Les.... looks very hard .... nice classic shape.
   Kind Regards Tony di

[seventhdevil]

i think i may have worked out what the wood is.

les, do you have a bit of the bark to photograph or was that your last log?

[Les Symonds]

I will need to check my stock....this was one piece in a huge batch of bowl blanks that I bought, they were all home-grown timbers and there might be more of this...we'll see.
Les

[seventhdevil]

ok mate.

if my theory is correct this would have been a nice hard bit of timber yes?

[Bryan Milham]

Les, again I' no expert of Field maple but I have turned some bits and it looks a bit dark to me, possibly Hornbeam.