Need advice

[edicehouse]

I cut down a river birch this weekend for my grandmother. I was wondering if pens would look good from it. Is it worth the shelf space to dry them out ect....?

 

[hewunch]

The River birch I have had was soft. I would break it open and look at the grain. If it is interesting then slice, stack and wait. If not, put it in the firewood pile.

 

[edicehouse]

It didn't really seem too interesting to me, but wanted some feedback.

 

[Justturnin]

Let it spalt

I would take some and cover it in leves for a while and allow it to spalt. If it is soft it will likely spaly pretty quick.

 

[JimB]

Why not cut off a blank size piece, turn it down to pen size and put some finish on it and see how it turns out? Don't use any tubes or anything. This is just to give you a idea how a pen size piece will look. Since you are not making a pen it will only take you a few minutes.

 

[hewunch]

Spalting is a good idea. Manure helps the process as I understand. Saw dust, chicken poop and water. Give it a shot.

 

[Rick_G]

Look in the crotches where 2 or more branches meet the main trunk. If there is nothing there put it in the firewood pile. Unless the tree has special meaning there is to much good looking stuff out there for what little storage space most of us have.