robutacion
Member
Hi friends
I have found wood species #96 for my timbers list and another very interesting wood that is introduced but I don't recall to ever had seen them in people's yard's however, I have heard some people making mention to this particular wood.
I have matched it to what the property owner said he believe it was, a tree planted in the yard of the house 10 years before he bought that house 30 years ago, making the tree about 40 years old.
I was told that it was a Japanese Weeping Elm tree so, Edgar, I got you a Weeping tree, is not a Fig but, that is a start...!:biggrin:
Now for the story;
I have had a visitor a few months ago that came in to have a look at some suitable blanks for him. He lives about 40 minutes driving away, is a teacher for carpentry at a regional school and does some extra work for himself on the weekends as carpenter, his name is Stuart, just a few short years younger than me. He is fairly new to wood turning so, most of his woods are not suitable for bowls, platters, etc, unless he would glue boards together, I gave him a hint on how to look for wood around his neighbourhood, including dumps and tree working companies.
He then said that he had a friend that had part of one of the trees in the backyard that had a big limb snapped off from a wind storm some time ago and that recently, the insurance company had given the go ahead for that tree removal as it had become unstable and therefore, dangerous. Stuart mentioned that he was told it was a Japanese Elm and when he said that, I told him to make sure the tree company would leave all the useful logs in the yard and that I would help him to cut and clear the area, in exchange for some of it, sufficient enough to allow me to make it part of my timbers list.
Anyway, on that visit, he purchased a few blanks and I gave him a bunch of loose pen blanks for him to take to the school and teach the kids how to make pens, which he did.
A couple of weeks ago, he revisited and this time looking for some Olive wood to small logs or big enough blanks to make some shakers with, he admitted that he always loved Olive wood but, he never had much of it to work with, I told him the first time he visited that I had plenty of it but he didn't see any.
He was surprised the second visit when he saw the chunks I had now displayed on my new storing shelves and he couldn't believe his eyes when I took him to the wood storage paddock to look for a couple of small logs he was also after.
A few days ago, he emailed me asking for help, the tree has been cut down, he was present to let the guys know what they would chip and leave behind, however, when they were about 7' from the ground, Stuart asked them to leave it like that as he wasn't sure if I wanted to slab some or not so, leaving it standing would allow me to decided what to do as he knew that I would help him with that job.
So, he asked for help because he and his wife and both their normal cars, went backs and forwards bringing a couple of logs at the time on each car some he sliced in half but he only had a small chainsaw and that was quite a job.
The wood was/is very green and saturated with water, not because of any recent rain but, from the amount of water that was in that tree when cut, as a result, the wood was super heavy and the logs weren't that small either. Anything under 10" was chipped, the tree trunk had a diameter of approx. 30'.
After half a dozen trips (about 20 minutes driving from Stuart place) they had enough, the carport was full of logs that, he didn't know what to do with them. He have never had much experience with tree work and or chainsaws, he also was not sure on how to cut/slice the logs for the different types of wood turnings he was considering in do with some of that wood and the logs couldn't stay there for too long and off-course, there was the issue of not only the tree trunk that was still upright but also, a dozen or so of the bigger logs that they didn't try to move, they were just too heavy and needed to be sliced up but where..? cording to Stuart.
So, last Saturday (a couple of days after he asked for help) Merissa and I we went to his place and show him where and how to process the logs for storing/drying and possibly make some green turnings. Saturday was a hot day, 35Celsius glad that we were in the shade but it was hard going but we got it all done, the only thing he needed to do was to paint the end grains and store it/them in a corner, away from the weather.
When I thought that I was done with it, he then mentioned that he had promised to the previous tree owners that he would clean up the rest of the wood/logs from their yard on Sunday, not certain about cutting and taken the trunk pieces also away that day but at least the lose logs on the ground, would be gone on Sunday.
Now, they were predicting 38 celsius for Sunday, far too hot to be in the heat however, if we would get there early we would have it done before it would get too hot but a phone call has put that chance in the bin as the previous tree owners didn't want any chainsaw noise not until 10:30 in the morning...!
I was a little worried about the heat and the fact that I was tired and I still had to get home (getting almost sunset) and prepare my big 36" chainsaw to tackle that big trunk in the morning and slice the logs that would come from that trunk and also some of the bigger logs that Stuart and his wife had left behind and also any other gear that I would need, including get the trailer ready for the trip.
Well, I'm not going to describe in detail what happened that day but our plans got changed as soon as we got there and I have to admit, I'm the only one to blamed for, I'm too much of a "sucker" and turn my head the other way when someone asks me if I can do something else that had nothing to do with the tree work we were there to finish.
Anyway, we've done this other job first and by the times it was done, we both were pretty "puffed" being in that heat and all the tree work was still to be done and lunch time was well passed so, we pushed on but, after I got that big chainsaw going (took a few hard pulls) cut the trunk, cut 2 logs from it and then slice them in the middle, I was done, and in some way, in troubles from heat stroke and feeling out of breath.
I had plenty of water and found a shady spot to sit down and recover a little but it took a good half an hour before I got up and start to move around but by this time, I was exhausted and in great back pain. Stuart was not as bad as me at that time but, by the time we pushed on, got all the wood taken to the trailer using its manual winch to lift the logs in and got out of there, it was past 4:00 in the afternoon and we still had to drive to Stuart's place, unload what we wanted and keep the rest in the trailer for me but, by the time we arrive, set in a chair with a cold drink, none of us had any energy left to unload any wood from that trailer.
We considered a couple of options and it was decided that was better for me to take the trailer as it was back to my place, and after some rest, I could download what was for me and clean up some of the bigger logs that I cut that way so that Stuart could have 20"+ blanks to turn as soon as he buys a bigger lathe, at the moment he can only do 12" however, they needed to be cut round and take the bottom round part and make it flat like in a slab that way, it would be a lot lighter to handle so that when he come over this next Sunday, he can put them in the car and take them back to his place.
I didn't touch the trailer on Monday and today Tuesday, the weather was cool so I went down and started to take some of the logs out of the trailer and clean any of the big pieces for Stuart large bowl turning, one day. Done a couple of hours late afternoon and was enough for me, I still have a few days before next Sunday so, I will clean a few logs each day and as I can...!
I forgot to take any pics last Sunday when we went to cut that trunk and get all the wood out of there, Stuart has taken a few pics of that tree while the tree guys were working on it and some pics from some of the logs piles in the yard so, I'm waiting for him to send me some of those pics so that I can show you guys, in the meantime, I can show you a couple of pics I took off my trailer today, before I started taking any wood out, I will have a few more pics of what I'm doing to the logs that I brought home and some pics of some pen blanks I cut from a few off-cuts from the first trip to Stuart's place, I slice them up about 1" or more and put them in the oven that night (Saturday night) they were there until this morning (Tuesday) they were dry, reading about 6 % MC on one of my moisture meters that reads 50% as green/wet wood so, that is very dry, so much so that it seems this wood doesn't like to be dried that fast, it turned out as hard as rock and many "sticks" shrunk well bellow the 20mm and most of them were 25 to 28mm before they went to the oven...!
To be continued...!
Has any of you have ever worked with this type of wood Japanese Elm or Japanese Weeping Elm, (same thing)...?
Let me know...!
Cheers
George
I have found wood species #96 for my timbers list and another very interesting wood that is introduced but I don't recall to ever had seen them in people's yard's however, I have heard some people making mention to this particular wood.
I have matched it to what the property owner said he believe it was, a tree planted in the yard of the house 10 years before he bought that house 30 years ago, making the tree about 40 years old.
I was told that it was a Japanese Weeping Elm tree so, Edgar, I got you a Weeping tree, is not a Fig but, that is a start...!:biggrin:
Now for the story;
I have had a visitor a few months ago that came in to have a look at some suitable blanks for him. He lives about 40 minutes driving away, is a teacher for carpentry at a regional school and does some extra work for himself on the weekends as carpenter, his name is Stuart, just a few short years younger than me. He is fairly new to wood turning so, most of his woods are not suitable for bowls, platters, etc, unless he would glue boards together, I gave him a hint on how to look for wood around his neighbourhood, including dumps and tree working companies.
He then said that he had a friend that had part of one of the trees in the backyard that had a big limb snapped off from a wind storm some time ago and that recently, the insurance company had given the go ahead for that tree removal as it had become unstable and therefore, dangerous. Stuart mentioned that he was told it was a Japanese Elm and when he said that, I told him to make sure the tree company would leave all the useful logs in the yard and that I would help him to cut and clear the area, in exchange for some of it, sufficient enough to allow me to make it part of my timbers list.
Anyway, on that visit, he purchased a few blanks and I gave him a bunch of loose pen blanks for him to take to the school and teach the kids how to make pens, which he did.
A couple of weeks ago, he revisited and this time looking for some Olive wood to small logs or big enough blanks to make some shakers with, he admitted that he always loved Olive wood but, he never had much of it to work with, I told him the first time he visited that I had plenty of it but he didn't see any.
He was surprised the second visit when he saw the chunks I had now displayed on my new storing shelves and he couldn't believe his eyes when I took him to the wood storage paddock to look for a couple of small logs he was also after.
A few days ago, he emailed me asking for help, the tree has been cut down, he was present to let the guys know what they would chip and leave behind, however, when they were about 7' from the ground, Stuart asked them to leave it like that as he wasn't sure if I wanted to slab some or not so, leaving it standing would allow me to decided what to do as he knew that I would help him with that job.
So, he asked for help because he and his wife and both their normal cars, went backs and forwards bringing a couple of logs at the time on each car some he sliced in half but he only had a small chainsaw and that was quite a job.
The wood was/is very green and saturated with water, not because of any recent rain but, from the amount of water that was in that tree when cut, as a result, the wood was super heavy and the logs weren't that small either. Anything under 10" was chipped, the tree trunk had a diameter of approx. 30'.
After half a dozen trips (about 20 minutes driving from Stuart place) they had enough, the carport was full of logs that, he didn't know what to do with them. He have never had much experience with tree work and or chainsaws, he also was not sure on how to cut/slice the logs for the different types of wood turnings he was considering in do with some of that wood and the logs couldn't stay there for too long and off-course, there was the issue of not only the tree trunk that was still upright but also, a dozen or so of the bigger logs that they didn't try to move, they were just too heavy and needed to be sliced up but where..? cording to Stuart.
So, last Saturday (a couple of days after he asked for help) Merissa and I we went to his place and show him where and how to process the logs for storing/drying and possibly make some green turnings. Saturday was a hot day, 35Celsius glad that we were in the shade but it was hard going but we got it all done, the only thing he needed to do was to paint the end grains and store it/them in a corner, away from the weather.
When I thought that I was done with it, he then mentioned that he had promised to the previous tree owners that he would clean up the rest of the wood/logs from their yard on Sunday, not certain about cutting and taken the trunk pieces also away that day but at least the lose logs on the ground, would be gone on Sunday.
Now, they were predicting 38 celsius for Sunday, far too hot to be in the heat however, if we would get there early we would have it done before it would get too hot but a phone call has put that chance in the bin as the previous tree owners didn't want any chainsaw noise not until 10:30 in the morning...!
I was a little worried about the heat and the fact that I was tired and I still had to get home (getting almost sunset) and prepare my big 36" chainsaw to tackle that big trunk in the morning and slice the logs that would come from that trunk and also some of the bigger logs that Stuart and his wife had left behind and also any other gear that I would need, including get the trailer ready for the trip.
Well, I'm not going to describe in detail what happened that day but our plans got changed as soon as we got there and I have to admit, I'm the only one to blamed for, I'm too much of a "sucker" and turn my head the other way when someone asks me if I can do something else that had nothing to do with the tree work we were there to finish.
Anyway, we've done this other job first and by the times it was done, we both were pretty "puffed" being in that heat and all the tree work was still to be done and lunch time was well passed so, we pushed on but, after I got that big chainsaw going (took a few hard pulls) cut the trunk, cut 2 logs from it and then slice them in the middle, I was done, and in some way, in troubles from heat stroke and feeling out of breath.
I had plenty of water and found a shady spot to sit down and recover a little but it took a good half an hour before I got up and start to move around but by this time, I was exhausted and in great back pain. Stuart was not as bad as me at that time but, by the time we pushed on, got all the wood taken to the trailer using its manual winch to lift the logs in and got out of there, it was past 4:00 in the afternoon and we still had to drive to Stuart's place, unload what we wanted and keep the rest in the trailer for me but, by the time we arrive, set in a chair with a cold drink, none of us had any energy left to unload any wood from that trailer.
We considered a couple of options and it was decided that was better for me to take the trailer as it was back to my place, and after some rest, I could download what was for me and clean up some of the bigger logs that I cut that way so that Stuart could have 20"+ blanks to turn as soon as he buys a bigger lathe, at the moment he can only do 12" however, they needed to be cut round and take the bottom round part and make it flat like in a slab that way, it would be a lot lighter to handle so that when he come over this next Sunday, he can put them in the car and take them back to his place.
I didn't touch the trailer on Monday and today Tuesday, the weather was cool so I went down and started to take some of the logs out of the trailer and clean any of the big pieces for Stuart large bowl turning, one day. Done a couple of hours late afternoon and was enough for me, I still have a few days before next Sunday so, I will clean a few logs each day and as I can...!
I forgot to take any pics last Sunday when we went to cut that trunk and get all the wood out of there, Stuart has taken a few pics of that tree while the tree guys were working on it and some pics from some of the logs piles in the yard so, I'm waiting for him to send me some of those pics so that I can show you guys, in the meantime, I can show you a couple of pics I took off my trailer today, before I started taking any wood out, I will have a few more pics of what I'm doing to the logs that I brought home and some pics of some pen blanks I cut from a few off-cuts from the first trip to Stuart's place, I slice them up about 1" or more and put them in the oven that night (Saturday night) they were there until this morning (Tuesday) they were dry, reading about 6 % MC on one of my moisture meters that reads 50% as green/wet wood so, that is very dry, so much so that it seems this wood doesn't like to be dried that fast, it turned out as hard as rock and many "sticks" shrunk well bellow the 20mm and most of them were 25 to 28mm before they went to the oven...!
To be continued...!
Has any of you have ever worked with this type of wood Japanese Elm or Japanese Weeping Elm, (same thing)...?
Let me know...!
Cheers
George
