Harvesting Wood ??

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
D

Drewboy22

Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2015
Messages
727
Location
San Antonio, Tx
I was lucky enough to do some tree trimming yesterday :bulgy-eyes:

One trunk was being cut and it was full of rot and a hole went almost all the way down the trunk. I was able to save about 8in of the trunk at the bottom of the tree and thought I would save it and make a couple bowls with it. The center of this piece is/was soppin wet, you could almost squish it with your finger:eek:

My question is: What do I do from here? Do I wax the ends and put it in the attic, or cut it in half, or ...

I will say that i have never turned anything this large and I hollow it out and put it in a bag, or at least not for a couple of weeks.

20160424_215803_resized_zpswhyk1z3a.jpg


20160424_215825_resized_zpsoxwoazk6.jpg


20160424_215839_resized_zpsauffh1gu.jpg


Thanks for the help :smile:
 
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
I don't care for wax myself. I usually paint the ends with whatever latex paint I have on hand then set it aside, off the ground, for a couple of years or so. Another possibility is to wrap the whole thing in a few layers of plastic wrap for a year or two to encourage spalting. I don't know how well that works in San Antonio, but it works great here in the Houston area with our lovely humidity.
 
Looks like juvenile or rotten wood in the center. I would split log and rough cut a round with my electric chain saw or band saw. Then rough turn two bowls to uniform thickness and set aside to dry. Not sure about relative humidity where you live might want to put in paper/plastic bag for week or two before letting it air dry before final turning, sanding & finishing.

You might even try turning one bowl thin (1/4" or 3/8" thick) sand, and finish same day.
Good luck with it!
 
You have many options. Here are a few.

- Seal it the way it is and let it sit.

- split it in half, seal it and let it sit. You may want to cut out the pith if you do this to help reduce the risk of splitting

- encourage spalting. Edgar gave you a method.

- Turn it wet, let it dry and warp naturally.

- rough turn it wet, protect it from drying too fast and checking (there are several methods) and then finish turning it months from now.

I have done all of the above except the encourage spalting option. What you do really depends on what you want to accomplish.
 
edohmann said:
I don't care for wax myself. I usually paint the ends with whatever latex paint I have on hand then set it aside, off the ground, for a couple of years or so. Another possibility is to wrap the whole thing in a few layers of plastic wrap for a year or two to encourage spalting. I don't know how well that works in San Antonio, but it works great here in the Houston area with our lovely humidity.
Click to expand...

Wildman said:
Looks like juvenile or rotten wood in the center. I would split log and rough cut a round with my electric chain saw or band saw. Then rough turn two bowls to uniform thickness and set aside to dry. Not sure about relative humidity where you live might want to put in paper/plastic bag for week or two before letting it air dry before final turning, sanding & finishing.

You might even try turning one bowl thin (1/4" or 3/8" thick) sand, and finish same day.
Good luck with it!
Click to expand...

JimB said:
You have many options. Here are a few.

- Seal it the way it is and let it sit.

- split it in half, seal it and let it sit. You may want to cut out the pith if you do this to help reduce the risk of splitting

- encourage spalting. Edgar gave you a method.

- Turn it wet, let it dry and warp naturally.

- rough turn it wet, protect it from drying too fast and checking (there are several methods) and then finish turning it months from now.

I have done all of the above except the encourage spalting option. What you do really depends on what you want to accomplish.
Click to expand...

Excellent Ideas. Any clue on how quick I need to act on this? Also, any clue on what type of wood it is?
 
I cut the pith out to reduce splitting. Then I paint the ends. I get my paint from the hardware store. It's the screw ups that they make when mixing paint. Some of the colors are pretty funky, but for what I'm using it for it don't matter and it's about half price. I've used latex and oil base. Both work. As far as how long, it really depends on the species of wood and the weather. Generally speaking though, the sooner the better. I try and paint it the same day I harvest it.
 
Last edited:
The sooner you seal it the better. In some cases, even waiting a few hours can result in checking (cracks). The other day I was cutting a small plum tree trunk. I was on the chain saw and my wife was sealing the wood. :smile: Isn't she great:smile:!
 
JimB said:
The sooner you seal it the better. In some cases, even waiting a few hours can result in checking (cracks). The other day I was cutting a small plum tree trunk. I was on the chain saw and my wife was sealing the wood. :smile: Isn't she great:smile:!
Click to expand...

Does she have a sister???
 
The attic in Texas is no place for wet wood unless you want to turn it into firewood. Left whole, it's going to split no matter what you do. If you want to attempt to control the cracking, cut it in half. Coat the ends and put it in a cool place with a little air movement to limit mold. If that center is punky, remember the mantra, "life is too short to turn crappy wood."
 
ok, I ran home at lunch and sprayed some rustoleom on the ends (that was all I had at the house) Tuesday night is the next time I will be able to mess with it and I will put it on the bandsaw and cut it in half.

Thanks for all the help :)
 
tomtedesco said:
JimB said:
The sooner you seal it the better. In some cases, even waiting a few hours can result in checking (cracks). The other day I was cutting a small plum tree trunk. I was on the chain saw and my wife was sealing the wood. :smile: Isn't she great:smile:!
Click to expand...

Does she have a sister???
Click to expand...

She does... but, she wouldn't be out there sealing wood!
 
Perhaps someone can figure out what it is from these photos, but I'm still in the dark.

Can you post a closeup view of some of the leaves? A view of a branch with its leaves and also a closeup of some individual leaves would probably help.
 
I'd say it's probably pecan, but it's always had to say for sure from photos. Looks like this group of trees may have sprouted from a squirrel's cache.
 
Last edited:
Last edited:
D.Oliver said:
I cut the pith out to reduce splitting. Then I paint the ends. I get my paint from the hardware store. It's the screw ups that they make when mixing paint. Some of the colors are pretty funky, but for what I'm using it for it don't matter and it's about half price. I've used latex and oil base. Both work. As far as how long, it really depends on the species of wood and the weather. Generally speaking though, the sooner the better. I try and paint it the same day I harvest it.
Click to expand...

Off topic, but your comment about the mis-tinted paint reminded me of the many years I was active with a 4H equestrian group. All our jumps were painted every year, and we always used mis-tints to paint them....and we had some really wild looking jumps!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom