I won't swear by it, but it looks a lot like Mahogany.

 

Billie

I second the mahogony  gw

sixpacktear- I don't know about Gumwood, but I'm reasonably certain that it's not mahogany as I don't believe they would use it for drawer sides which is what you have there. Looking at the color it might be cedar but I'm no expert other than the fact that I've refinished enough old furniture to know.

Just my humble opinion.

Wiredheart

sixpacktear- Another possible on your wood samples might be poplar which I forgot about. It is more of a hard wood and if you can push your finger nail into easily, then it might be the cedar I mentioned in my previous post. I use poplar for window/door trim when it is to be painted as unlike pine, poplar is clear of knots and not as soft.

Poplar heartwood will give you some great looking colors from purple to brown to green.

Wiredheart

Sixpacker,

 

My 2 cents worth,

 

lots of old dresser drawer sides were made of  popular being nowday the first wood in hardwood classification the dead give away if it has green or purple disfigurements in it.

 

another wood used was willow, it has a smell of aspirin when sanded plained or cut. but the wood is softer than popular

 

if its harder than popular it looks simular to ash, mostly used in furnature and the making of baseball bats.... ash is stringy and hard...

 

another mention you made is gum,  while harder than popular but not by much i have used sweet gum, its great with long planks nearly knotless  and pretty straight grain but unless stored weighted it will warp quick ftom tempature and humidity..

 

guessing wood from reclaims is a tough job,  dresser carcarcuses were the show wood and all else was  secondary most all but the finest furnature makers bought the cheapest wood that served the purpose. so depending where it was built, might give a better clue.

and the wood could differ from drawer to drawer. commonly called whitewood, which could be most any lighter wood including cottonwood.. wood ages in time and darkens its difficult to name that wood from a photo,

 

a local millworks owner here is my guru,

 take a piece to a local wood worker - millworks maybe they can identify it and give you a good deal on more of it,

the local millwrite here will resaw my planks and plain them to dimention for little of nothing,

thomp

it could be a piece of luan, I know that it comes in 1/4 sheets but I have run across boards of it in certain instances, I could tell for sure as I am allergic to it and could tell pretty quick by geting a splinter, it has too much marbling for mahogany but not too much for luan. good luck woodman

My guess it is a Mahagony also. Now there are so many varietys of mahagony that it is hard to tell. By the way Laun is in the mahagony family. Do a google search and find mahagony types. This may help.