At long last, I've received a blessing from the tree gods. I got a Box Elder that was cut down to make room for a home addition. It was a good cause after all, the home owner is adding a workshop to his property. Never was there a more noble cause.
It's good to have a horticulture fella in the family. One of my wive's cousins spotted this tree and asked if I'd be interested. After picking myself up off the floor, I told him that yes, I would be! A few months later, she's home and waiting.
From what I understand, Box Elder trees don't get very large. This one was on the big side!
I really need to get a trailer... And a bigger truck... Donations welcome!
Good thing all I had to do was push the pieces out of the truck. Actually I was also able to push the pieces into a truck... Conveniently enough, the tree was uphill of there we loaded the truck. We literally rolled the wood onto the tailgate and into the truck! That's easier than using a tractor!
The crown of this tree is pretty big, so I'll have lots of options. I'm thinking at least a big hollow form and platter. I'm super eager to cut open this piece. The grain patterns should be excellent! I'm still itching for a real porker to try out the full capacity of the lathe!
Since this is rather prized wood, I want to do just about everything I can to insure it doesn't rot before I can get to it all. If I had a ginormous shop, I'd go ahead and process the logs and cut everything into blanks. However, that's not the case...
I bought 4 mil black plastic and 2.5" x 6' creosoted timbers to lay the wood on. Not having anchorseal, I used exterior grade latex paint to coat the end grain. If I thought these logs would sit for an extended period of time, I would have bought anchorseal. I do have the best of intentions to turn this all in a few months... You know what they say about mice and men...
Well, the moment of truth. Here's the first log opened up. This one is about 9" in diameter. I've always loved the thrill of cutting into a log. You never know what you'll find. I was happy to see some good coloring and there is even enough figure in the wood that I can see it off the rough cut of the chainsaw.
Fist bowl from Box Elder! This one is destined for my wife's cousin to thank him for his hard work and patience dealing with an overly excited woodturner.
Be careful about embedded metal in that wood, you never know when a nail or screw for a clothesline was pounded in, and grown over...
ReplyDeleteDavid,
ReplyDeleteI actually cut through an old tapered square nail and found a clothesline in a knot hole while cutting up the tree. I've never found any "goodies" before during my urban tree scavenging, but I'm always on the lookout for something that wants to ruin my fun.