Of course it's impossible
to positively ID species using only the kinds of photographs we typically see here. My guesses are based a long history of working wood and alongside experts.
The hobbit house wood ID site is a very informative and quick reference, and will often help to get you close.
LCM, teak?
More and full-size photos at flickr link.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/strictly_phals/sets/72157639902224563/
You've got some other known teak items
around the house, I'm sure, as well as some examples of walnut, birch, and/or cherry? Side-by-side comparisons are probably the best unscientific method for determining types. We can see so much more with the naked eye or even using a magnifying glass than we could ever hope to in photos on this site.
I remember reading an article either by or about R. Bruce Hoadley, a wood technologist and author, in which he said that he was loath to make ANY ID's without microscopic analysis.
Yes, the excitement of a new...
Yes, the excitement of a new find is making me curious about everything about the chair, from the wood type, glides, date, all the way to the screws. Of course, it adds more points if it's a rare type. It's a surprisingly solid chair given the age and I plan on keeping it =)
Those last photos
look like teak to me. The darkest parts of the grain appear like open grain, which is the darkest part of the teak I've seen and isn't much present in cherry. Does that sound right to you, tk ? And, the wildest parts of the seat veneer clinch it, for me.
Hoadley (as I heard it) was a woodworker who went on specialize in wood technology. His prescription for wood identification relied on close examination of end grain, which he said was definitive.
Yes, SDR, woody's LCM looks a lot like teak.
And kin's DCM could very well be, too. I honestly can't offer more than guess, though, and neither can anyone else here.
As I said before, pixels on a screen only go so far, and factors like lighting, age, UV exposure, and types of finish can have dramatic affect on appearances even in person.
Heck, the last time I bought teak, the dealer bundled a plank in the stack that looked so out of place, I had him pull it out suspecting it might have been a completely different specie that got mixed in by mistake. But, no, it was indeed teak, just from a different tree or lot.
And, yes, I think Hoadley is right in that microscopic comparison of the end grain cell structure is the only way to definitively ID certain species (and good luck with that when you're dealing with modern veneers). His books are great, though it been a long time since I've read them. "Understanding Wood" should be required reading for anyone interested in making stuff out of wood.
skin it
if you're going to make a repair with non-original materials, might as well skin the whole back with a new piece. looks like the veneers the matched front to back anyway. use a vacuum bag.
I know it's not original, but if done right, MUCH better result. Much easier to do as well. Even Charles himself couldn't patch that - it'll stick out like a sore thumb no matter how hard anyone tries.
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