A question regarding purple wood.

[westbrooklawn]

Looks just like cedar to me... smell it and you can tell for sure if it is cedar

 

[rekees4300]

ditto ... Cedar

 

[RealDogBoy]

Thanks for all the replies. Walnut is a heavy, dense wood and this is lighter -- consistent with cedar. I didn't think to smell it -- I'll do that this weekend. I'm in Atlanta and the wood is in Cleburne County, AL.

Here's a picture of the outside -- note that the bark is long gone.

 

[BruceWard]

Looks like cedar

 

[smstonypoint]

Here's a picture of the outside -- note that the bark is long gone.

Not really. That's what cedar bark looks like. *

Steve

* Edit -- at least Eastern red cedar.

 

[chipsndust]

Thanks for all the replies. Walnut is a heavy, dense wood and this is lighter -- consistent with cedar. I didn't think to smell it -- I'll do that this weekend. I'm in Atlanta and the wood is in Cleburne County, AL.

Here's a picture of the outside -- note that the bark is long gone.

Now that I see the bark,I agree that it is eastern redcedar. (Not box elder)

 

[grnspot110]

Red Cedar & that is the bark!

 

[weldingisfun]

Cedar, for certain.

 

[westbrooklawn]

You can peel the bark off cedar, roll it between your hands, and you are left with a fuzzy fabric like fiber. A ball of this material is great for starting a campfire, even in wet conditions...

 

[RealDogBoy]

I think we all know by now it's cedar but I did smell it to confirm and it is distinctly cedar.

I'm still a little puzzled about the purple color. I remember cedar as either red or reddish-brown. I cut up a cedar tree for one of my neighbors in Atlanta a few years ago and I think I'd remember if the interior of the wood was a really strange color like this wood.

I took another picture: on the left is newly-split cedar; the one on the right was split exactly a week before.