SHPA Series: Space for Place

Yesterday, our Conservation Studio class spent a few hours with furrowed brows trying to solve a bit of mystery. The mystery in question is what type of wood resides in the wainscotting of the 1870 era schoolhouse in Akron that Progress Through Preservation is transforming into their new headquarters. Samples of this wood have been examined by several knowledgeable parties and it has been variously identified as white oak or possibly American chesnut. A longtime restoration carpenter from Tallmadge gave me a piece of teak he thought it resembled, even though teak is not native to the area. Akron was, after all, a major transportation corridor, so one cannot discount non-native materials finding their way into the area. A knowledgable paint proprietor thought there were signs of coal dust that had stained the grain, giving it a look that others saw as graining.

Samples of the wood were cratered by the class to determine the "chromochronology," or sequence of paint colors and, to some degree, we were able to test the paint for lead content (yes) and signs of finishes (varnishes/shellacs, again yes). As it turned out, we believe we determined that it had indeed been grained somewhere in its lifetime, between its ten+ coats of paint. Using the book "Identifying Wood" by Bruce Hoadley, we examined the pore structure, grain, color and presence of rays among other identifying characteristics. Beech, Chesnut and Sycamore came out as the top candidates. We'll need to do some more work here and I'll keep us posted until we solve this ... for now, the mystery endures.  See Photo section for images of the wood and class.