A "problem" that I don't mind to have...!

[robutacion]

G'day peoples,

Be aware, this is going to be a long thread (what a surprise, huh?):biggrin:

Well, after 3 1/2 months of not doing much from being unwell, I knew that I would have plenty of things to catch up with so, I got going the best I could and get one job done at the time and slowly I'm getting there.

One of the "things" that I was missing was the wood chasing and while the trees work the wife and I done for years, we stopped that on Easter 2013.

Since then, has been mostly picking up what I would see, already down or cut from some of the tree work companies operating in this area. There were 2 of these companies that I saw operating recently in my area and when I approached them to find out what they were cutting and the possibility to have some dropped at my place, I was told that, all their wood was being dumped at the MacLaren Vale firewood processing place that, I knew it was there but unseen from the road, I didn't think that would be much point in stopping because most of the people around here with "Firewood for sale" signs in front of their places, is pretty much what they can cut from their own trees, mainly gums and pines.

When I was told that, the council dumping charges are now $80 per tonne and some considerable distance to travel from these areas so, was a lot easier, less time consuming and extra profit from their jobs to simply dump it at this firewood processing place.

About 3 weeks ago I decide to visit the place and what a surprise I got , the place is huge and the piles of logs everywhere, were simply "candy" to my eyes:biggrin:

The owner, Ken is a 65 years old and a damn hard worker, he told me that he has been there for over 30 years, splitting and selling firewood, mulch, chips, kindly and plenty of horse manure bags from his horses at the back of the property.



After some talking, explaining what I do with the wood and why I was there in the first place, Ken seemed comfortable with me around and didn't hesitate to give me permission to look around and put aside any wood I wanted for a discounted price because, was not split.

He also has a 3.5 tonne truck and a ute that he uses to make deliveries however, most of the sales, people drive to him to have their trucks loaded with good firewood.

I told him that I was going to walk around with some cans of fluorescent spray cans (pink and green) and mark with a cross anything I wanted to be put aside for me. The bobcat driver is also a 65 years old Polish guy (Wells), he also makes some deliveries on the ute, only.

It didn't take me long to get one spray can empty and in need to grab the green can from my vehicle. While admiring the piles of logs divided in 4 main sectors, dry Gum at the front, green Gum at the back, on the other side were, mixed woods (Pine and anything apart from Gums), the dry stuff at the front and the green stuff at the back, I looked around and I couldn't believe how many logs, some quite big I had marked with the pink spray can, you couldn't missed them even if you tried.

Ken walked up to me and said that, I looked like a kid in a candy store I was really enjoying myself. There were some many woods that I didn't know/recognised what they were however, there were all from this area, I would say 50km radius from me.

I had my 6x4 trailer with me so, I had it loaded with Olive wood I spotted in a far corner, plenty of good logs that I wasn't going to leave behind, I would get all of it taken to my storage paddock ASAP, why..??? because he has the property and business for sale so that he can retire and travel around the world after his visit to many of the countries, already.

I thought to myself, I'm not going to risk to wait until the place is sold, with my luck, the new owner may not welcome my presence as much:wink:

It was getting late in the day so, I asked him to pick-up all the marked logs and put the in an area/spot that he agreed to be "George's stash" area. I did also tell him that, I was going to come back the next day for another trailer load and that, he could load his truck and follow me to my place/storage paddock so that he knew where to take future loads.

The next day, first thin in the morning I was there and he has loading the truck with my stuff, he was moving my logs to my designated area and he realised that, would be a lot better to load it up into the truck and get a load down to me that morning.

My trailer was again filled with Olive wood logs and the bigger logs loaded into his truck that he worked out would be another 2 or 3 trips for him to get all the marked logs unloaded in my paddock. So, after we discussed the other loads, I left and he was behind me with the first truck load.

Just over 30 minutes later, we were at the paddock gate and his load was tipped out in seconds (tip truck), I left my vehicle and trailer in the paddock and jumped into Ken's truck for another trip to his place and get another truck load.

In less than 24 hours I had 2 truck loads and 2 of my trailers unloaded, and approx. weight of 7.5 tonnes, at least.

I got some of that wood home and started slicing it all up, most of it is green but, lots of it are dry but very water soaked wood. I got pretty saw quite quickly, the body is still a little weak so, a bit of a struggle to handled the logs into the bandsaw, and that was only the begining..!

I have turned a few green logs into finished size pieces, I was missing some bowl turning so, I spend a couple od days getting "my fix"

Since then, every time I need to go that way, I take the trailer and get it full of wood in the way home. It has been another 5 or 6 trips with my trailer, every time marking a few new logs that, were either unseen before or dumped recently.



My George's stash spot at ken's place is getting bigger and bigger even tough, I keep getting trailers full twice a week or so, what am I doing with it all...??? I worry about that later.:biggrin:

There was a bit of money spend in those first 2 truck loads and the 2 trailers full so, I would have to have the loads delivered as I could, money's are tight.

On my second trailer load, I had the chainsaw with me as I wanted to cut down a few shorter pieces from big logs I had already marked, particularly the woods that I didn't know what they were (still don't) so, Ken saw me operate the chainsaw and when I told him that I would need to take it easier for the next truck loads due to low cash availability and then is when he tell's me, "You can have all the wood you want and not pay, I would love to have you up here cutting some wood for me (slice logs into firewood size disks)"

Well, you can just imagine what I thought of that idea, I wasn't going to pass on that opportunity, it suited me perfectly, was only one problem, how often could I be there and how many hours would I last to make it worthwhile the trip, not forgetting that, I would have my trailer with me so, I would bring another small load back.

I was there yesterday for 6 hours and last week for about the same time, he will be happy to see me there as often as I want/can, I'm a very fast chainsaw operator and have all the necessary safety gear when using it.

If I could, I would like to go there every day in the afternoons and make sure none of the good stuff is cut into firewood, if the wood is dropped green, I have a good chance to spot it while is drying but, if is dry, it may be dropped/unloaded at the front and it will be slice and split in no time.

The "treasures" from that place that have been burnt as firewood, the treasures that are still under piles and piles of logs and the treasures that can be unloaded in that place at any time, unless I'm there, they are gone...!:redface:

Ken has a big firewood business, he claims to sell about 1.500 tonnes every year, each pile contains approx. 600 tonnes of split wood and he has 5 piles done with much more to be done in the next few months, the Winter is just starting to show its face so, he will be very busy selling from now on, one of the reasons why he needs some extra wood sliced up for the big splitter.

While I'm super excited with this opportunity and the fact that I already got from there some very new and nice logs, I may need to put a break on how much chainsaw work I'm doing and how much weight I'm handling, I know that I will pay dearly for it, try to convince my brain, otherwise...!

I will be showing some of the pieces I already done with some of the new woods, pics of loads and sliced treasures, many of these species will have some pen blanks available very soon, I have plenty of green and wet wood in the oven, it's always full...!(poor Merissa):biggrin:

A lot more to come,



Cheers
George

 

[randyrls]

George; I am getting my passport! Or drilling a tunnel to you.

 

[D.Oliver]

George, just buy the business and then the whole place becomes your stash area! Wow that's some beautiful wood you folks heat your houses with down under!

 

[Edgar]

Congratulations on that awesome wood score, George.

I'm especially glad to hear that you are feeling better and able to get back to what you enjoy doing the most. That was the part of this story that I enjoyed the most.

 

[1080Wayne]

Unbelievable George ! Delighted to see that you are now able to measure your wood stash in tonnes , as I do , although I think you are cheating by using stuff over 4 inch diameter .

Please be careful with that chain saw .

 

[Jim15]

That's a great haul. I'm glad you are feeling well enough to be able to do all that work.

 

[wyone]

I have to say.... I really enjoy reading the stories of everyone here.. but George has the best of everyone!

 

[SDB777]

Those "arrowheads" are very unique....

Congrats on the 'haul'!!!



Scott (chainsaw gas smells yummy) B

 

[robutacion]

George; I am getting my passport! Or drilling a tunnel to you.

Well, you're better start digging, make sure the whole is big enough for the big logs...!:biggrin:

Cheers
George

 

[robutacion]

George, just buy the business and then the whole place becomes your stash area! Wow that's some beautiful wood you folks heat your houses with down under!

Buy the business..??? sure mate, the 1,2 million he wants is just pocket money to me...!:frown:

As for the wood that is burnt in this side of the pond, you have no idea mate, it kills me just to think of it, most people simply have no idea or appreciation to what they are using as firewood up here.

Cheers
George

 

[robutacion]

Congratulations on that awesome wood score, George.

I'm especially glad to hear that you are feeling better and able to get back to what you enjoy doing the most. That was the part of this story that I enjoyed the most.

Thanks Edgar,

Yes, I thrive around wood's the problem is that, my body doesn't want to go where the mind is and I never seem to know limits, its either too much or not enough and nothing in between, that has been my old problem...!:redface:

One thing is for sure, if I have to have pains, let them be from handling timbers and not from some other health problem...!

Cheers
George

 

[robutacion]

Unbelievable George ! Delighted to see that you are now able to measure your wood stash in tonnes , as I do , although I think you are cheating by using stuff over 4 inch diameter .

Please be careful with that chain saw .

Sure mate, considering my average Aussie woods I found and cut, this place get logs the size of cars, I like them smaller but a little over 4" if I can..!:biggrin:

Talking of large logs, my first job was tackling the logs shown in the pics bellow, using my 36" chainsaw, they have been for years, no one has ever touched them even though they are from Red Gum, one of the most sourced firewoods in this area but the sheer size of them and its hardness after being so dry, was enough for Ken to ignore them but I had a different idea, I had cut logs that size before but, was only 2 problems that I had to deal with, the first was the weight of this old Sthil 070 chainsaw with a large bar, that is a challenge to any healthy strong man, I'm not that anymore and that "tool" hurts to handle, pretty bad.

The second problem was that, I could see that the logs centre was hollow but full of soil, look at the pile of dirt I got out of it before I started but, I couldn't get it all so, and if you look at the first couple of cuts on the right, they were fairly straight but after that, I was hitting too much dirt, blunting the chain and making the saw push to the right.

I kept sharpening the chain but after a while, I gave up, was just no point in spending a whole day struggling with it, is like cutting through cement, the new owners can take care of it so, I grabbed the smaller 20" chainsaw and start cutting easier and cleaner stuff, you could see some wood sliced, then...!

Cheers
George

 

[thewishman]

Isn't it amazing that this place was around for 30 years and you just discovered the treasures they have been splitting. It is fun to see you so excited about the new wooden gold mine.

You'll have plenty of woods for your wood identification contests - but who will really know what is what if YOU don't know.

 

[robutacion]

Isn't it amazing that this place was around for 30 years and you just discovered the treasures they have been splitting. It is fun to see you so excited about the new wooden gold mine.

You'll have plenty of woods for your wood identification contests - but who will really know what is what if YOU don't know.

Hi Chris,

Thanks mate, does my "excitement" show true that much..??:wink::biggrin:

I have been in this place for 11 years and yes, I remember to have seen that sign on the side of the road for a long time but, you can't see anything from the road and I know from experience that, most of the firewood people only want to deal with Gum trees as they offer the best firewood that people around here is used to have however, I can tell you that they have no idea of so many other tree species that offer a lot better properties as firewood, Oaks being some of them but Olive wood is probably one of the best when is dry but off-course, that is not what people gets most around here and all over Australia, that explain why red gum firewood worth almost double than any other woods.

I have been at other firewood sale places and nothing compares with this one, there is also one major factor to why, these places were not as important to me as to my own ability to source the woods I wanted and have them cut myself but that has all changed so now, these sort of places are my priority.

I understand that to some people, knowing the tree species name is most crucial, for me it is and it is not, I appreciate the wood for what it is and not for its name however, in situations like these, if the people receiving the wood don't know what they are, I can go further and say that, many of the tree companies remove trees that they have no idea what they are, that is not important for what they do.

So, I will continue to offer wood species that I know from where they come from, (within certain distances) but, it will take a while to find their proper names. All this becomes a little easier when people start to see pieces of that wood and some pics of the logs they come from, that sometimes helps but not always...!

I have had pieces that I didn't recognise at the firewood place, the last day I was there cutting, I spotted 2 small pieces that have been cut for a very long time, they were under some of the logs I cut and exposed, while I didn't know what they were at the beginning, I knew that they weren't going to stay there this has happened many times before, I only recognise what they are when I put them in the bandsaw and start cutting.

Look at the pics attached and tell me if you know what they are, I can tell you that they are part of tree species that I have already listed for many years however, this is the first time I've found this part of the tree(s).

Cheers
George

 

[robutacion]

That's a great haul. I'm glad you are feeling well enough to be able to do all that work.

Thanks mate, the question is, how long will I last..???

I don't know the answer but, what I can tell you is that, I will continue doing it until I can.:biggrin:

Cheers
George

 

[robutacion]

I have to say.... I really enjoy reading the stories of everyone here.. but George has the best of everyone!

Hahaha mate, you are a good friend, thank you...!

Cheers
George

 

[robutacion]

Those "arrowheads" are very unique....

Congrats on the 'haul'!!!



Scott (chainsaw gas smells yummy) B

Oh yeah, those...!:wink:

Can you tell me what they are...???

You may get lucky when they are dry!

Cheers
George

 

[Cwalker935]

Wow George, it sounds like you found your own little bit of heaven. Don't over do it in all the excitement. Congratulations.

 

[robutacion]

Wow George, it sounds like you found your own little bit of heaven. Don't over do it in all the excitement. Congratulations.

Hahaha, too late for that mate, I haven't touched anything in the workshop all day today, my both wrists hardly can grip a pen to write, something that I haven't had since I had surgery on my Carpel Tunnels some time ago so that tells me that yesterday and the day before, I pushed it too damn hard, as usual.:redface:

I would prefer to know that, the firewood place wasn't for sale, I may be less concerned and get as much as I can, is a good possibility that the person buying the property, is not buying it for the firewood processing but for the house the location and the large size, who knows if that person buys the place and gets rid of all the firewood machinery and wood...??

Is also possible that, it that would happen that, someone else in the firewood business would buy anything to do with the firewood processing including all the wood, split and unsplit????

I just don't know and with the offer to get as much wood I want in exchange for some of my labour, makes me a little more on edge and keen in getting as much as I can, while I can, better safe than sorry, huh?:biggrin:

Cheers
George

 

[D.Oliver]

George, just buy the business and then the whole place becomes your stash area! Wow that's some beautiful wood you folks heat your houses with down under!

Buy the business..??? sure mate, the 1,2 million he wants is just pocket money to me...!:frown:

Cheers
George

Did you check the couch cushions?:biggrin::tongue:

 

[robutacion]

George, just buy the business and then the whole place becomes your stash area! Wow that's some beautiful wood you folks heat your houses with down under!

Buy the business..??? sure mate, the 1,2 million he wants is just pocket money to me...!:frown:

Cheers
George

Did you check the couch cushions?:biggrin::tongue:

You wish...!:redface:

Cheers
George

 

[George Watkins]

Hi George, I am so pleased that you have found a great wood contact, I really enjoying looking around the log yard that I visit and I love taking that first slice from the end of a sun bleached log to reveal the colours.

 

[robutacion]

More new species...!

G'day,

No one seemed to want to guess the species names of those 2 burls I shown before, post -12, as mentioned I have that tree species on my list for many years but I never managed to find the burls some trees produced.

The first pic on the left is of a #24 Cork tree wood burl, they are rare burls to find, I have never seen a burl in any Cork trees here in Australia, I've seen a few back in my birth country, though.

The piece on the right pic is of the #10 Poplar tree burl, these are not as rare but very difficult to spot on the trees, the burl grows on the inside of the wood with only small "bulges" on the outside, very disguised by the bark.

The first pic bellow is of a the Poplar crotch piece that was still attached to the limb where the burl was.



Pic 2 is of my storage paddock and 2 first trailers loaded of 6, with the Olive wood.



This is one of the drying towers that I have cut from some nice Dwarf Cypress logs, I git them straight cut and diagonal cut. Interestingly, these small trees only produce the purple heart centre of some of the thinner/knotted branches, from the trunk right to the forks, you normally don't see any purple.

I had some of this wood some years ago from a small tree a neighbour on the other side of the road, needed cutting after it snapped near the root.



This next one, also not yet identified, has one nasty property, when cutting it green, it stinks like cow poo/$#!t

Looking at it, you can't see the curled and twisted grains that run through some areas of the wood, it works similar to Tortuosa Willow, though to cut through those grained areas, the blade wants to wonder...!

I had some cut and dried immediately (3 days laster), the natural wood colour is pretty furry and whitish, ideal to stabilized with some colours and get those grains pop-up when done.

I attached also a couple of pics of these blanks after I made them into extra long pen blanks, in red and blue dyes. Not every blank is like the 2 shown, those are the more grainy ones but, I made packs of 4 blanks where one has one of these and 3 more where the brain decreases gradually so basically blanks from the most grained to the straight grain.



I have a lot more to show from this firewood place, that will be done next...!

Cheers
George

 

[robutacion]

Hi George, I am so pleased that you have found a great wood contact, I really enjoying looking around the log yard that I visit and I love taking that first slice from the end of a sun bleached log to reveal the colours.

Hi George,

Yes, I'm pretty pleased that I manage to have this opportunity...!

Log yards can be a nightmare also, particularly when you spot something under tonnes of other logs and the owners won't move any wood for you, not profitable for him so, you keep looking but your mind still stuck on that piece you wanted but can't have, if you did, your mind becomes free for putting your attention on other possibilities, very much like the story of fisherman, never forget the one that got away, huh..??:biggrin:

Cheers
George

 

[robutacion]

Well, I have not been at the firewood place since last week, I was going to do a few hours on the chainsaw today but, we have had rain for some days so, I will wait until the weather improves.

This means that, I haven't collected any new stuff however, there are a few pics of wood I got from that place that you guys haven't seen yet.

This is the case with the first pic bellow, what you see is part of the last trailer load I brought home, the day I done the last chainsawing for Ken.



The pic was taken the day I dropped it grass hear the work-shop and before the rain started, I have already processed some of it, the rest is covered with a plastic to prevent getting soaked wet.

I have just found out today that, one of the wood species I got from the firewood place is the Red Ironbark, I've seen lots of these trees in the streets in McLaren Vale but, I never had the opportunity to cut one myself. Looking at the bark, it looks that the fire has burnt it but, that is how the bark of mature trees look like.

This next one is not new but, I never had some much of it and so old, this means that the wood/burl is spalted with the burl eyes open and stable. This is the case with the Peppercorn tree burl, the burl when green is all solid but as it dries, the burl eyes start to open apart, and the wood around it gets darker.



This should have been a monster of a tree, there was a lot of it and from what I saw, it seemed to belong all to the same tree.

I have processed a bit of it, some soft spalted burl blanks and slices have been stabilized in clear Juice,



Some slices of the some parts of the dry burl but raw,



I have also stabilised some pen blanks with the blue dye,




There is more but, that will stay for the next time...!:biggrin:

Enjoy
Cheers
George

 

[robutacion]

another new wood species...!

G'day,

Last Wednesday, we had to go through McLaren Vale so I took the trailer with intentions to stop by the firewood processing place and get another load of wood. I spotted a few fairly large slices cut near the track that I didn't seem familiar.

The logs have been there for some time but since my last time there was over 2 weeks ago, lots of logs have been cut/sliced and taken to the hydraulic splitter, and as this happens more logs all along the bobcat access tracks become visible and that is the reason I haven't spotted them before or if I did, the log's bark didn't mean much to me then.

We have had a lot of rain these last couple of weeks, all the wood/logs is/are saturated from being in the weather and the wood colours always darken making wood identification and even wood grain spotting a lot more difficult so, after I had a good look at the few of the same log's faces, I decided that take a couple home with me.

The first thing I've done when home was to take one of the logs to the bandsaw and check it out, what a nice surprise I had, still have no idea at what it can be but I'm sure, is nor one of the natives, it has to be an introduced species and extremely old at that, the very distinct growth rings are very tight and many, well over 100 in my estimation.

I will take a better look at one of the slices I have that is part of the main trunk and count them all to satisfy my curiosity.

I was certainly interested in getting more of it and had to be fast, logs sliced mean, going to the splitter at any time so, I decided to return the next day and grab as much as I could. All the slices I saw, I got them in the trailer and I wondered if that was all, the discs were large so, there had to be more of that tree there somewhere.

I didn't need to go far when I spotted the main mother load of the tree bottom trunk/butt, a good tonne of it still untouched, is a couple of metres back from the track so, I will take care of it, next time I'm working the Bobcat (yes, I load all my wood with it)

The sliced pieces I have already of this new species (to me) will last me a very long time however, that main trunk I saw, has some crotch wood and some other stuff that I would expect to produce some very pretty wood.

I have cut some more tonight, diagonal and cross as last Wednesday I had cut some straight cut pen blanks, all oversized because, apart from being water saturated, I think the wood is still a little green. I will oven dry a few of each to see exactly how it looks dry and off-course after I turn some samples out of it with the normal CA finish.

So far, I can say that the bark is whiteish, about 3/4" thick and fairly smooth. the wood doesn't seem very dense and the darker stripes are absolutely everywhere, as I said, I'm looking forwards to have some blanks dry so that I can make the samples, the wood is very pretty as it is, already...!:wink::biggrin:

Do you recognize it...?? Let me know.

Enjoy the pics...!

Cheers
George

 

[1080Wayne]

Introduced , light weight , whitish bark Ailanthus ??

 

[robutacion]

Introduced , light weight , whitish bark Ailanthus ??

Well, well, well...! we have another tree "expert" among us, a shot in the dark, a fluke, or a very educated guess, I'm amazed of how accurate you were/are with the name of this new tree species.

I have a feeling that was not native to Australia but an introduced species, and I was right, I know it came from this area and in fact, there has been identified as common in this area of South Australia, see attached map

In fact, Ailanthus altissima or Tree of Haven is native to China so, is no surprise that with such a large number of Chinese people in Australia that, they would bring one of their native trees to Australia, and in this case, I'm glad they did, I would never known/touched the wood, otherwise...!



I'm not sure which name I will use to put on my timbers list but, with a name such as Tree of Haven, I think that the decision is an obvious one..!

So this one is identified, there are another 4 or 5 that I have no idea what they are, 2 of which I started processing it yesterday so, I will show them here soon...!

One that has also surprised me was Red Palm tree that, I got from Ken's place in the very beginning. Any other Palm species I processed/found so far, are light when dry and lightly coloured also however, this one has a very hard bark/outer shell and felt extremely heavy when I picked up a small log/piece about 1' long or so less. Took it home and while water saturated, I let it set sliced up into oversize pen blanks and then I put it in the oven for 2 days at very low temps and when I got it out, it felt very solid, still heavy and shrunk very little something that any other Palms tried shrunk from 40mm square into
pieces that would be already under the 20mm square, some shrunk into something that looked like a thin twig (useless stuf)

So, I will have some finished pen blanks of it to show everyone here, no need to stabilize this stuff, I'm sure...!:biggrin:

Once again, thanks Wayne for helping out with tree species identification.

Cheers
George

 

[1080Wayne]

Delighted to help George , but it probably won`t happen again . Combination of a little bit of knowledge , a major bit of forgetfulness , and a little bit of luck . The light weight and not native to Australia combination made me think of some paulownia I have , which I knew to have been widely planted (mine came from New York) . Not having looked at it for some time , I very wrongly remembered the species name as being Ailanthus . When I Googled bark photos of Ailanthus , a couple of the first bunch looked very close to yours , hence my guess . I didn`t look at my wood samples until tonight after reading your post . So , shall I continue to be forgetfully wrong every time I try to help you , in the hope that I may accidentally be right , or should I try to be right , knowing that I almost certainly will be wrong ??

My guess is that you have been lucky to get a tree that has grown very slowly , perhaps in somewhat adverse conditions . My Ailanthus samples look nothing like what you have - wide growth rings and much paler . I will look forward to seeing more photos when you have finished processing them .

 

[robutacion]

Delighted to help George , but it probably won`t happen again . Combination of a little bit of knowledge , a major bit of forgetfulness , and a little bit of luck . The light weight and not native to Australia combination made me think of some paulownia I have , which I knew to have been widely planted (mine came from New York) . Not having looked at it for some time , I very wrongly remembered the species name as being Ailanthus . When I Googled bark photos of Ailanthus , a couple of the first bunch looked very close to yours , hence my guess . I didn`t look at my wood samples until tonight after reading your post . So , shall I continue to be forgetfully wrong every time I try to help you , in the hope that I may accidentally be right , or should I try to be right , knowing that I almost certainly will be wrong ??

My guess is that you have been lucky to get a tree that has grown very slowly , perhaps in somewhat adverse conditions . My Ailanthus samples look nothing like what you have - wide growth rings and much paler . I will look forward to seeing more photos when you have finished processing them .

Well my friend, which either way you want to go about it, please continued to throw possible names, its only a matter of time before you get it right, and this case is a good example of that.

I'm not familiar with many of these new species and sometimes the smallest of clues can put us in the right track, I would never guessed it and if there was any doubt (as I never saw the tree alive, its leafs, flowers, etc...) was one aspect of this tree species that took any doubts I may have and that is the very unusual end grain when looked close up, different than most of woods so, I was positive of the match.

I have one lot of these blanks in diagonal cut that the wife waxed yesterday, ready for me to make 4 blank's packs mark them and take some pics, that will happen probably tomorrow, I'm also considering to turn a sample out of these new wood species, finished with CA as all other samples I made, that gives always a better view at what the blank/wood looks like...!

Let's hope that you and I are as lucky to identify some of the other unknown/unidentified species...!:wink::biggrin:

Cheers
George

 

[robutacion]

Huge log

I have taken some pics of this Tree of Heaven wood end-gain to show everyone why it was an easy match with Wayne's suggested name, I did however forget to post them earlier so, better late than ever, huh..?



Because I'm talking about this new wood species, I knew that was a lot more of this wood in the firewood processing place, particularly logs identical to the ones I already brought home so, I was quite pleased when yesterday, I decided to take the day out to cut some more wood/logs for Ken and as always, I had the trailer with me for another load in my way home.

I got there very early, I didn't sleep well that night so, I got up before 6:00 am I was there before 7:30 am to which I had to wait until 8:00am before the chainsaws are allowed to start making noise so did Ken reminded me.

Since my last time there, a lot more wood was taken to the big splitter so, there was an area that has become a bit more open and not far from the spot I found the Tree of Heaven when all of a certain I spotted a "monster" that looked like the Tree of heaven I had taken home but and absolute huge piece in fact, Ken tell's me that the other half has been already split but I didn't mind, what I was seeing was big enough to last me for a long time not considering many of the other logs of the same wood I had already stored.

My trailer is a 7"x5" and before I would do anything else I got the bobcat and took this "piece" to the trailer even though would be some time before I would go home, somehow, I felt better to know that I had the piece in the trailer already.:biggrin:

Have a look at this, it hardly fitted I did however, fill all the spaces with many other small logs.

Unloading this monster all by myself on my storage paddock was an impossible task without the use of some mechanic device or something else, I endup using some of my marine ropes to tie the log into the closest Gum tree, drop the rear trailer gate down and put the foot in the gas as fast as I could, the grass was wet and that could be troubles but, I got it out of the trailer and off home I went.

I didn't last that long on the chainsaw 2 to 4 hours in a good day is all I stand and yesterday was not different by 12:30pm I was done, that was when I loaded the small logs and wished I had that done early in the morning while I was still fresh, the back and wrists were killing me...!:frown:

I'm not sure if I will slab that trunk or not, I got the best part of the trunk where if forked the bottom straight piece was the one Ken had already split, I would like to have seen that tree while standing up, I've thought that the logs I already had were the trunk as I was going to count the rings properly, I could tell from those "limb" logs that, the tree had some age but after seeing the main trunk, I realise how much bigger the tree was. I will count the growth rings as soon as I have the opportunity, I'm estimating to be close to 150 years old, where ever that tree was planted, it had to have ideal conditions of soil and water so, will see...!

There are still a few new species that you guys haven't seen yet, one that is puzzling me is the whitest woods I ever seen or worked with, I know that the whitest of them all is the Holly tree wood but, I don't think we have it in Australia even as an introduced species, I may be wrong but that doesn't change the fact that I'm not aware.

The wood is of medium density but far from being too soft, it can be quite tough when dry, I already have a "white wood" #73 on my list that I haven't identified it either but this one is a lot more whiter. Wet or dry, the colour is the same however, when I got it dry and them waxed, the colour changed to a light ivory colour.

I had a guy last week that asked me if I had white wood as he wanted to make a contrast with some Purpleheart he had, he never told me what he was going to use it for but I'm not surprised if it is/was for a chess table or something of that nature.

I did reply saying that I had a "white" wood that was still green, I could dry a piece for him, depending of size, he only wanted a blank 200mm square x 80mm thick so, I proceeded to show him a pic I took from half of the log that was still unprocessed, I did also use one of the new Dwarf Cypress heart wood blanks that is the purplish wood I have and put it on the top of the log so that he could see the contrast.



I got it done and sent to him, I got an email yesterday to let me know the dried blank arrived and that he was very pleased with the colour it took when he used some linseed oil to coat the surface, he mentioned that the light ivory colour it was shown was exactly what he was after so, he was very pleased.

I will need to take a few more close up pics of the logs and see if we can put a name on it. I have another 2 whiteish new woods that I haven't yet processed much of it, one a did make a few pen blanks and waxed it, it has a light shade of green on it, quite pretty...!



I have processed many whitish woods before that looked white when green but after dry and waxed, they turn anything else but white so, this white wood I'm talking about is beyond any doubt, the whitest wood I ever had.

Where do you use white wood...?? not that I have done much work with such a light wood colour but I believe that when a contrast is required for segmentation work for example, this wood colour can be a great choice I certainly will turn a few things with it, possibly a large platter or something of that nature and maybe incorporated a ring or other type contrast with some other wood/material, it should look nice and different...!:biggrin:

Cheers
George

 

[1080Wayne]

That nice green in the white wood reminds me of tulip-tree , or yellow poplar as it is sometimes called . Under the right conditions the green will shade into almost purple . Just teasing you George .

 

[Krash]

Wow George, what a find!

I just saw this thread and am excited to live this story with you through your great photos and descriptions! I'm so happy you are feeling better. How is Merissa doing? Is she feeling better also?

Man, you are a hard worker. Puts me to shame! :wink:

I look forward to your future b-logs !
(you didn't know you were a b-logger now did you?!) :biggrin:

I will be in your "neck" of the woods late next year so I checked to see how far I would be from Adelaide in hopes that I could drop by to see you. I was sad to see that Auckland is still 2000 miles from you. :frown:
Pretty big woods you have there ....

Catch ya later friend.

 

[Edgar]

Wow George, what a find!

I just saw this thread and am excited to live this story with you through your great photos and descriptions! I'm so happy you are feeling better. How is Merissa doing? Is she feeling better also?

Man, you are a hard worker. Puts me to shame! :wink:

I look forward to your future b-logs !
(you didn't know you were a b-logger now did you?!) :biggrin:

I will be in your "neck" of the woods late next year so I checked to see how far I would be from Adelaide in hopes that I could drop by to see you. I was sad to see that Auckland is still 2000 miles from you. :frown:
Pretty big woods you have there ....

Catch ya later friend.

I thought I had clicked on an M&M Commercial when I saw this post -- "HE DOES EXIST!"

Good to see some posts from you, pal.

Edgar

 

[Edgar]

George,
I also have a white wood mystery.

I picked up this piece of wood on my trip to Trinidad last year. It's about 2"x3"x24" - the sawmill owner cut it off a piece of scrap wood that was about 15 long. He called it white pine, but it doesn't look like any pine that I've seen before.

There's no doubt that this is sap wood from near the bark layer, but that doesn't help much in trying to identify it.

Edgar

 

[1080Wayne]

George,
I also have a white wood mystery.

I picked up this piece of wood on my trip to Trinidad last year. It's about 2"x3"x24" - the sawmill owner cut it off a piece of scrap wood that was about 15 long. He called it white pine, but it doesn't look like any pine that I've seen before.

There's no doubt that this is sap wood from near the bark layer, but that doesn't help much in trying to identify it.

Edgar

Try Podocarpus , Edgar

 

[Edgar]

George,
I also have a white wood mystery.

I picked up this piece of wood on my trip to Trinidad last year. It's about 2"x3"x24" - the sawmill owner cut it off a piece of scrap wood that was about 15 long. He called it white pine, but it doesn't look like any pine that I've seen before.

There's no doubt that this is sap wood from near the bark layer, but that doesn't help much in trying to identify it.

Edgar

Try Podocarpus , Edgar

That's kinda the way I'm leaning, Wayne. So far, the main pine references that I've been able to find for T&T are Caribbean Pine and Podocarpus coriaceus (Wild Pine, Yucca Plum Pine or Podocarp).

It certainly isn't Caribbean Pine because that's a yellow pine that looks just like our Southern yellow pine. So far I haven't been able to find any pictures or descriptions of Podocarp wood that I can compare with my photo - have you found any?

(Sorry about hijacking your thread, George)

Edgar

 

[robutacion]

George,
I also have a white wood mystery.

I picked up this piece of wood on my trip to Trinidad last year. It's about 2"x3"x24" - the sawmill owner cut it off a piece of scrap wood that was about 15 long. He called it white pine, but it doesn't look like any pine that I've seen before.

There's no doubt that this is sap wood from near the bark layer, but that doesn't help much in trying to identify it.

Edgar

Try Podocarpus , Edgar

That's kinda the way I'm leaning, Wayne. So far, the main pine references that I've been able to find for T&T are Caribbean Pine and Podocarpus coriaceus (Wild Pine, Yucca Plum Pine or Podocarp).

It certainly isn't Caribbean Pine because that's a yellow pine that looks just like our Southern yellow pine. So far I haven't been able to find any pictures or descriptions of Podocarp wood that I can compare with my photo - have you found any?

(Sorry about hijacking your thread, George)

Edgar

Hi Edgar

First of all, I don't see that you are hijacking my thread at all, it is quite normal that withing the OP main subject that, other subjects are discussed as the conversation gets along, I find myself doing exactly that many times throughout my normal and daily association with IAP members so mate, you have nothing to apologise for.

I have no idea as to what that piece of white wood come from, I do however think that, white wood is ideal to many uses and I'm certain you will find a few otherwise, you know what to do, huh...??

Hi Kelly

I'm glad to see you post, you miss your friends...!:biggrin:

I'm pretty certain that my new woods/blanks will be making a trip to your place the one way or the other, I'm behind my normal Mr. Anonimous games and I will continue them very soon, I just been focussing on other issues latelly that had required my full attention.

Merissa is doing well with her monthly infusion treatment, some nasty side-effects but she is getting used to them after all, the positives of the treatment are far superior than its negatives so, she is fairly stable at the moment.

Cheers
George

 

[robutacion]

That nice green in the white wood reminds me of tulip-tree , or yellow poplar as it is sometimes called . Under the right conditions the green will shade into almost purple . Just teasing you George .

Hi Wayne,

That green spot looks water stain to me, it's gone now...!

I haven't yet found a match for this wood, I have looked thought...!

At the moment I'm processing another of the new woods the Lilly-Pilly, I feed on berries from one of these trees in the first address I moved to when I first come to SA, I had a small tree in front of the house that literally overloaded itself each year with the berries.

I never had much to do with this wood species that in my case is wet and green, I know so far that, is not an easy wood to slice on the bandsaw, it tightens and jam;s the blade all of the times, causing some troubles to get it out, apart from that, I don't know much, I have to oven dry some pen blanks so that I have it listed on my "timbers list, its number will be #92.

I also need to take a few pics of it.

Cheers
George

 

[robutacion]

Some more new "goodies" but, what is it...? - lots of pics!

Hey folks,

I have been fairly quiet in here but, I have been far from quiet with my new place wood gatherings, the weather was pretty nasty for a few weeks so, I stayed home cutting/processing the wood I had brought home before, and that was a lot.

The day before yesterday was Merissa infusion day and as always I take the trailer with us to bring a load of wood from Ken's place, when there I went to look around and noticed some new logs in the yard, some very large logs from a very huge tree that was cut somewhere in the area.

I could see burls everywhere attached to those logs but I needed my chainsaw to work on them and make them mine so, I filled the trailer with wood that was already dropped on "George's stash spot" and organised with Ken to come back the next day with my gear and start chewing those big logs down, putting a side any of the bits I wanted to keep.

By the end of the day, I had more cut pieces for me than what I could carry in one load, the bobcat bucket was filled with pieces that were transported into my stash, for next time, this is only a very small portion of what is available still, I will need a few more days before I get those bad boys dismantled.

I'm getting lots of burls, from caps to slices that I cut after the cap was removed, in this wood, the burl eyes/channels go a long way into the wood so, only slicing it all, I will be able to see what is hidden inside but, from I saw already, I will have burl and burled wood for years to come and to satisfy any of you guys needs for this type of wood.

Now, my only question is, what is it...??? in some way it resembles my previous Tortuosa Willow but the bark, smell and texture are all wrong.

From research so far, I'm inclined to say that, is one of the UK tree species that are planted all over this country. Now, this is a very large tree, looking at the diameter of the tree butt in one of the pics, this was a majestic size tree no doubt.

There are no leafs to use on the identification, none I manage to find until now so, is only the unusual bark that I have to work with and I'm sure, it will be identified soon, with the help of some of our IAP fine woods identifier people.

I'm going to leave a lot of bigger pieces for bowls, small boxes, salt and pepper shakers and all other stuff, I already cut some small pieces into oversized pen blanks, the wood is wet and semi-green but, I believe it will dry very fast, if I process it and put it to dry in a well-ventilated place that around here, is not difficult to do.

So, what do you guys think? looks familiar? would you like to order some?

Let me know...!

Cheers
George