Asked on Jun 10, 2018
What's IS this?
+10
I've got this slab I found at a flea market for 10 bucks. The guy was an old school wood worker, used nothing but hand tools, most of them he had made. He went through his stacks of wood with me and showed me which ones were "ready". I did not ask if they were air or kiln dried, so I have no idea. Got it home where it sat for probably a month and a half before I got to it. Pulled it out, got it all smoothed down, cleaned a most of the bark off, then I left it overnight. In the morning, I found all these little black spots. Any idea what they are? I planned on sealing it up and using it for the top of a cabinet.
This looks like it may be something called ebonizing which after some exposure can cause the wood to turn black.
Thats interesting wendy. I posted this on two different wood working sites and none of the "experts" had any idea😂 Thank you so much
Worm holes?
What type of wood is this? Is it cedar, red wood? Ebonizing is a method of achieving a blackened finish on wood. Appears to be naturally occurring holes from any number of insects that like to burrow into bark.
Somewhat agree with Wendy. A form of ebonizing. Redwood is very resinous. Removing the bark opened the pores to some if the resins seeping out. Once they hit the air they turned black.
Discoloration from resin was going to be my choice. Its a beautiful piece of wood, and the marks shouldn't detract from its look, at least in my opinion.
To be honest, I think it's woodworms.