Welcome to LumberJocks!
Observations:
Looks like someone has used a wire brush on edges and cleaned all the bark and sap wood from the sample?
Color and sheen looks like it has finish applied, which will make determining species almost impossible. Need to see backside, and freshly machined surface to check species.
See a crack that needs stabilized with epoxy to prevent further splitting and damage.
As far as grain type? Burl grain.
Burl grain is unique in that is can have many different types of defects that don't fit one classification.
New Mexico? How hard/dense/heavy is it?
Several eucalyptus/acacia species are common in arid river bottoms of SW desert states. Local 'red' eucalyptus ends to have orange tones, if we are seeing the natural wood color. Eucalyptus is hard, heavy, and dense. Acacia species can be medium to dense hardwoods. At same time, the large spacing between early and late wood in some areas of cookie better resemble a softwood/conifer species. Alligator Juniper is very common in central AZ and NM mountains. Alligator juniper has a wide range of colors, depending on local soil; but can look similar to your cookie when clear coated with varnish/poly.
FWIW - When I need to figure out random lumber species examples, I use these two sites:
Wood Filter | The Wood Database
HobbitHouse Wood ID site
Best Luck!
Observations:
Looks like someone has used a wire brush on edges and cleaned all the bark and sap wood from the sample?
Color and sheen looks like it has finish applied, which will make determining species almost impossible. Need to see backside, and freshly machined surface to check species.
See a crack that needs stabilized with epoxy to prevent further splitting and damage.
As far as grain type? Burl grain.
Burl grain is unique in that is can have many different types of defects that don't fit one classification.
New Mexico? How hard/dense/heavy is it?
Several eucalyptus/acacia species are common in arid river bottoms of SW desert states. Local 'red' eucalyptus ends to have orange tones, if we are seeing the natural wood color. Eucalyptus is hard, heavy, and dense. Acacia species can be medium to dense hardwoods. At same time, the large spacing between early and late wood in some areas of cookie better resemble a softwood/conifer species. Alligator Juniper is very common in central AZ and NM mountains. Alligator juniper has a wide range of colors, depending on local soil; but can look similar to your cookie when clear coated with varnish/poly.
FWIW - When I need to figure out random lumber species examples, I use these two sites:
Wood Filter | The Wood Database
HobbitHouse Wood ID site
Best Luck!
