[pianotech] What kind of wood is this?

[John Delacour]

At 11:57 -0400 26/08/2010, Sheila Holcomb wrote:

>(photos 
>here:Ê<http://www.flickr.com/photos/23869082@N03/sets/72157624687893411/>http://www.flickr.com/photos/23869082@N03/sets/72157624687893411/Ê)
>
>Sporer, Carlson & Berry Upright, No. 1571
>No year listed in the atlas, but the company made pianos from 1860-1915
>
>My first guess from the color and rough grainÊtextureÊwould be oak, 
>but I have never seen this sort of dramatic curl pattern in oak.
>
>Anyone else seen this look before?

Never!  It's very striking isn't it.  To me it looks more like ash, 
but I have never seen ash cut like that.  I guess it's possible.

>Also, any guesses on age?

1889

>The other weird thing is that at first I thought it had been 
>refinished, due to the light color compared to the color under the 
>lid, but then I notice the the crazing in the finish is still there. 
>Is there any way someone lightened the finish without removing the 
>crazing?

That's easy.  The wood or the polish/varnish or both were originally 
dyed with a  reddish dye, for example Bismarck brown.  Even the most 
expensive red dyes and stains are not completely light-fast and the 
cheaper ones will lose their red very quickly.  Any natural red in 
the wood is not immune either, so that a deep rosewood will be 
bleached to gold with enough exposure to light.  However in this case 
the wood itself (not containing any red) has lost nothing and the 
colour has gone only from the products they used to finish it.

JD