# Walnut and???



## woodtickgreg (Sep 27, 2016)

I have been asked by my boss at the mower shop to take down the walnut on the right. This should be an easy job, remove the 2 lower branches, and then I can drop it into the vacant field that he owns. The tree is already leaning that way. They are never this easy in the city, lol.
Next question is what is this other tree on the left? Has similar leaves to a walnut but seeds like a maple or ash and in big clusters. Here's some pics.

Walnut is on the right. If I wait till the leaves are down I can cut up the brush and put it in the dumpster.



I estimate it at about 2 feet across at breast height. Should yield some nice sappy turning blanks!



And this is the one I need help id'ing.



The leaves and seeds. What is it guys? I bet someone knows right away. But I don't have a clue. Is it worth anything? There's a couple more on the property that I could get if I wanted them, and a couple big catalpa's I could probably get.



For now it's just the walnut, but I'm probably going to try and get the catalpa's too, fun stuff to turn:-)

Reactions: Like 2


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## Palaswood (Sep 27, 2016)

What ya got there Greg is Tree of Heaven or Ailanthus (Ailanthus altissima) aka Chinese Sumac. http://www.wood-database.com/ailanthus/

http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/ailanthus.htm

Very similar to Oak being ring porous, with the rays, and a similar janka hardness rating. I had a bit of this once. Didn't mill it or dry it properly so it cracked to hell, but it was rock hard, albeit somewhat bland. Would make a good turning wood I would think.

Reactions: Thank You! 2 | Useful 1


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## woodtickgreg (Sep 27, 2016)

Very cool, I knew someone would recognize it. Thank you for the info!


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## woodtickgreg (Sep 28, 2016)

This has got me thinking. I wonder if this tree of heaven is what all the imported furniture is made from that I have been seeing?


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## Tom Smart (Sep 28, 2016)

Palaswood said:


> Tree of Heaven or Ailanthus (Ailanthus altissima) aka Chinese Sumac



Those are weeds around here. They grow everywhere, they grow fast (making them brittle) and they crowd out and replace native trees. I had a whole tree line full of them and turned them all into mulch. That should come down and the walnut stay (but then you wouldn't get all that great wood).

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Tclem (Sep 28, 2016)

It's a pine tree. Very valuable. Super rare. Wood has Burl characteristics throughout the tree

Reactions: Funny 4


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## Palaswood (Sep 28, 2016)

woodtickgreg said:


> This has got me thinking. I wonder if this tree of heavin is what all the imported furniture is made from that I have been seeing?


It's probably not. I don't believe that's used for furniture much. What you have seen is probably rubberwood (Hevea Brasiliensis), which is the tree latex comes from. They grow them on plantations, and once the trees stop producing sap (for latex rubber), they mill them for lower cost export goods, mainly furniture.
http://www.wood-database.com/rubberwood/
http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/rubberwood.htm

That's what most of that stuff is made of that you find in home stores and outlets like TJ maxx, Ross, and Marshalls. Otherwise, Mango wood is popular for the same kind of furniture, mostly coming out of India.


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## woodtickgreg (Sep 28, 2016)

Palaswood said:


> It's probably not. I don't believe that's used for furniture much. What you have seen is probably rubberwood (Hevea Brasiliensis), which is the tree latex comes from. They grow them on plantations, and once the trees stop producing sap (for latex rubber), they mill them for lower cost export goods, mainly furniture.
> http://www.wood-database.com/rubberwood/
> http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/rubberwood.htm
> 
> That's what most of that stuff is made of that you find in home stores and outlets like TJ maxx, Ross, and Marshalls. Otherwise, Mango wood is popular for the same kind of furniture, mostly coming out of India.


Yup, looking at the samples it sure looks like it. I asked a guy in the furniture showroom once what kind of wood is it.
He paused for a moment and said asian hardwood. Really I said? Just tell me you don't know, but don't bullshit me!
And now I know, lol.

Reactions: Like 1


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## woodtickgreg (Sep 28, 2016)

Tom Smart said:


> Those are weeds around here. They grow everywhere, they grow fast (making them brittle) and they crowd out and replace native trees. I had a whole tree line full of them and turned them all into mulch. That should come down and the walnut stay (but then you wouldn't get all that great wood).


The walnut is coming down because the nuts fall on the neighbors car and dented the crap out of it. Bad for them, good for me. But if I have to take that tree down I might mess with it for turning blanks, just to try it out.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Palaswood (Sep 28, 2016)

woodtickgreg said:


> Yup, looking at the samples it sure looks like it. I asked a guy in the furniture showroom once what kind of wood is it.
> He paused for a moment and said asian hardwood. Really I said? Just tell me you don't know, but don't bullshit me!
> And now I know, lol.


he wasn't wrong, it is an Asian hardwood :) lol

Reactions: Like 1


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## Tom Smart (Sep 28, 2016)

woodtickgreg said:


> The walnut is coming down because the nuts fall on the neighbors car and dented the crap out of it. Bad for them, good for me. But if I have to take that tree down I might mess with it for turning blanks, just to try it out.



Yeah, that's not good. I've got a bunch of walnut trees and the by product - tree rats, aka squirrels.


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## Kevin (Sep 28, 2016)

Tom Smart said:


> Yeah, that's not good. I've got a bunch of walnut trees and the by product - tree rats, aka squirrels.



Tom loves squirrells.


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## Schroedc (Sep 28, 2016)

Kevin said:


> Tom loves squirrells.


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## Tom Smart (Sep 28, 2016)

Kevin said:


> Tom loves squirrells.





 

Can't shoot enough of them. This morning's "harvest" - #19.

Reactions: Like 1 | +Karma 1


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## HomeBody (Sep 28, 2016)

Greg if I remember right those ailanthus have a bad smell. Maybe just the flowers, not the wood. Not sure. Gary

Reactions: Informative 1


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## Palaswood (Sep 28, 2016)

Is that Alvin, Simon or Theodore? No that was chipmunks... nvm

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Spinartist (Sep 28, 2016)

Tom Smart said:


> View attachment 114164
> 
> Can't shoot enough of them. This morning's "harvest" - #19.




Right in the brain!! That's some good shootin!!

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Palaswood (Sep 28, 2016)

What ya packin these days Tom? @Tom Smart


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## Tom Smart (Sep 28, 2016)

That was an Ithaca Featherlight 20 gage. 

Had been using a Harrington and Richardson Topper 88 410 bore, but the striker and lifter broke. Wish I could find someone to fix it.


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## Mr. Peet (Sep 28, 2016)

Tic,

That 'tree of heaven' will have a stink when you mill it too. The smell dissipates while seasoning. It might reappear in finish milling but is gone after finishing the final product. The best way I can describe it is like taking 'white ash' and 'red oak' and combining them. That is if the growth rings are similar in size. I milled a few 40" inchers, and the fist 25-40 years were really big rings, but more like the ash and oak further out. The whitish pink hue tends to fade to a grayish dull white. But that is here, might be different for you. Good luck, looks like some compression wood in the lower bole.

Reactions: Like 1


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## phinds (Sep 29, 2016)

woodtickgreg said:


> This has got me thinking. I wonder if this tree of heaven is what all the imported furniture is made from that I have been seeing?


Joseph is correct. What you've been seeing is rubberwood. My understanding is that up until about 20 years ago once a rubber tree was not producing latex any longer they would just cut'm down and burn'm. Now they make furniture out of them. I've seen a lot of it, even have several folding bookshelves made from it.

Reactions: Like 1 | Great Post 1


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