Hard to tell From the photo, but might be Ash. If so, it would make a great axe handle. But you can of course make an axe handle out of any hardwood, it will mostly be fine.
this post was submitted on 08 Sep 2023
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Could also be oak?
Doesn't look like oak to me. For oak, I look for medullary rays that would appear running perpendicular to the rings on the end grain. I don't see any of those.
Thanks
I loath getting on my high horse, but don't take things from forests unless they are explicitly there for the taking or you have permission from someone. The odd small item here and there may not seem significant but if everybody did it it would have a significant impact.
Thanks for your concern, couldn't agree more. In that case, that forest is partly private property where I own a bit, and the branch came from there. It's not exploited for its wood and is left mostly in its wild state. I'm about the only guy out there that even go there for a walk once in a while. It's still an item taken from it, but believe me, that forest is well cared for :-)
I don't think it is ash - the bark does not look right. Having a cross section showing the face grain and end grain is often helpful to identify wood from a picture.
Face grain: https://nextcloud.kessel.hya.sk/s/RbWeoYrksq4Ro3Z
End grain: https://nextcloud.kessel.hya.sk/s/MfBkftqq7DnrjcF
Bark: https://nextcloud.kessel.hya.sk/s/2R5ycP2sjLMQWjf
I didn't know those terms as I'm a total woodwork newbie. Do you confirm the pictures I linked match what I called them?
Thanks very much everyone for your answers :-)
Yes, those terms match your pictures. My vote is for beech, but it's still a guess. It grows in the region (Jura Mountains), is a hardwood and has a similar grain pattern and bark.
From the trees that grow there, beech is completely a possibility, but I can't find the little dashes that I usually see on the edge grain of beech wood, thus I eliminated that possibility. Still I don't know if every beech look the same, so, maybe you're right? Oak, ash and maple are all other possibilities for that forest, but maple was very unlikely, thus the other guesses (oak and ash) are completely plausible too.
Do you think of a test, or anything else I could do on the wood to help further determine the essence?
Ash or white oak would be my first guess, either would be great for an axe handle. Really all your looking for with handles is relatively straight tight grain structure, everything else is more aesthetic than functional
You might get good results from the PlantNet app
Didn't know that App, thanks for the tip :-)
Are you still in the area can you get any pictures of the leaves
Sadly not, it's a fallen tree that is in good shape but has no leaves left.
With the dislaimer that I know nothing about trees in France...Here is some info on what grows there. Of what I see on a quick skim, I'd probably be looking to see if hornbeam or beech has the right kind of bark. It looks kind Alder related to me, but that may not be a useful starting point.
Thanks for the link. The location wasn't from the high mountain, but rather the low plateau, so doesn't match that much, but it's interesting anyway.