A Simple one today, can anyone hazard a guess at what kind of wood this is? (see link below for pic) It is a hard wood, and when cut gives off the same smell of wood that greets you when you walk in to a hardware shop, but does have a “tangy” or “sharp” edge on it.
http://www27.brinkster.com/bumtown/test/whatwood.html
Thanks:-)
There are any number of woods that might look like that, but the most common North American wood that could look like that is poplar. It is tight grained, without open pores or rays, has a creamy sapwood and a heartwood that can vary from pale grey-greenish to brown, black, bright green or even purple, depending on the mineral content of the soil. The colors become more muted over time with exposure to air and light.
Best wishes,
Jerry
Second on poplar.
Is it new wood? In this picture it looks like weathered wood, as from an old barn.
That does look pretty weathered. If you care to send me a little slip of the wood in an envelope, I’d be glad to give a better opinion..
It is actually from the planks of a crate that I salvaged. They have taken quite a beating, but seem to be free from chemicals (they had a large machine bolted to them) 
Possibly cedar? … that’s what the grain looks like, but the cedar fragrance would have been a give away when you cut it.
I’m pretty sure it’s not cedar, as it doesn’t smell like it. It’s smell is strong. It is like a normal wood smell, only sharp, and tangy.
It might be elm, which is considered a secondary wood, and is often used for pallets and the like. In such a use, they wouldn’t use kiln-dried wood, so it would be green (meaning still full of sap). You said it’s old, but it’s worth mentioning that green wood is much stronger smelling than wood that’s dried. Elm has that coloration, but I believe it’s an open grained wood. Hard to tell from the picture.
Best wishes,
Jerry
But really, looking at it again, it looks more like poplar than anything.
Lark, carefully rereading your post, I think what you have there is green poplar. It looks like poplar, definitely, and coming from a packing skid would explain the strong smell, since they use green wood for packing skids.
Best wishes,
Jerry