# I thought folks might find this interesting



## Schroedc (May 10, 2015)

I have been working off and on with pieces of this Hemlock tree for one of my customers for almost two years and I have this block I cut to keep as a keepsake and add to my wood collection. I don't recall if I ever posted it anywhere else but this stuff sure has some tight growth rings!

Reactions: Like 5 | Way Cool 4


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## Kevin (May 10, 2015)

This is old growth longleaf pine felled and milled in the east Texas Piney woods in the late 1880's to early 1890s. I salvaged quite a bit of it from the historic Smith, Moore, & Williams store in Bonham, Texas right before it finally shut its doors a few years ago. Unfortunately I had a bad skin reaction to the dust trying to turn pepper mills from it so I gave most of it away. Still have a few blocks of it. The rings are pretty tight . . . .

Reactions: Like 2 | Way Cool 3


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## Kevin (May 10, 2015)

Colin look at that cluster rings right at the 1" line of your rule - those were some serious drought years!

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1 | Informative 1


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## phinds (May 10, 2015)

Cool. I haven't seen hemlock with over 30 rings/inch like that. My site has about 4/inch to about 20/inch. Thanks for posting.

Reactions: Like 1


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## ripjack13 (May 10, 2015)

I have some pieces like that too. I have no idea of the species, but it was from an old building and the floor had been burned so we replaced a bunch. I salvaged a couple feet of it. If I remember when I get home I'll post it up. Nice tight grain just like that....


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## Mr. Peet (May 10, 2015)

Paul, Herb and I cut a few Old growth in the 90's that had 350 + years in 30"- 35" inches diameter. When the wholly Adelaide hit our hemlock, these figures were common. Sadly, most of the trees had "shake", so much went to waste. I gave a few cookie cuts to Penn State and Rutgers, but saw no way to retain any for myself at the time. Can only keep so much...Nice to see others have taken time to remember....


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## phinds (May 10, 2015)

Mr. Peet said:


> Paul, Herb and I cut a few Old growth in the 90's that had 350 + years in 30"- 35" inches diameter. When the wholly Adelaide hit our hemlock, these figures were common. Sadly, most of the trees had "shake", so much went to waste. I gave a few cookie cuts to Penn State and Rutgers, but saw no way to retain any for myself at the time. Can only keep so much...Nice to see others have taken time to remember....


So at most you're talking about 19 to 23 rings/inch but this one from Collin is 30+/inch, at least in the left-hand-side one inch of his pic and that's considerably more. Of course it IS a limited area of the wood and the ones you are talking about are that much on average for the whole radius. Pretty cool. Too bad you don't still have any. You've GOT to buy a much bigger house so you can keep more wood 

EDIT: I've been to Mark's house. Every time you turn around you risk stumbling over wood (Except in the living room --- I think Ellen doesn't allow any in there). Some people have bookshelves with books on them. Mark has bookshelves too, but he believes "bookshelves" were made for wood storage.

Reactions: Like 2


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## Mr. Peet (May 11, 2015)

I thought everybody used book shelves for piling stuff on. I just thought wood was a good choice.

Yes, the average would be 19-23 rings per inch on a straight graph, however the first 50 to 75 years for most of those monsters we felled were the normal 4-7 growth rings per inch excluding several drought years. The Rutgers's piece had over 50 rings per inch in a section, beyond what I counted, but I trust there folks were accurate.

Who knows what Penn State did with their slice of the past. They already have a great wall cookie on display (old Henry I think) of a slice taken from a tree out of Allan Seeger State Park from 32' feet above stump that dwarfs many numbers. It was around 510 years old and 34" inches in diameter. That's old growth for sure. I'll check with the curator to make sure my numbers are in the ball park.


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## ripjack13 (May 11, 2015)

Here's the lil bit of blocks I have. It is very dense and fairly heavy...no idea what it is. But it's awesome...

Reactions: Way Cool 1


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## phinds (May 11, 2015)

I'd put my money on Douglas fir, based on the resin canals and the thickness of much of the latewood

You can see some on my site with very dense rings.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Schroedc (May 11, 2015)

phinds said:


> I'd put my money on Douglas fir, based on the resin canals and the thickness of much of the latewood
> 
> You can see some on my site with very dense rings.



I'd have to agree- You should see the pile of lumber from a 100 year old house I picked up, the rings are that tight on that stuff too.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Mr. Peet (May 11, 2015)

Rip,

Is the fresh cut (old wood) smooth or sticky? Does it have a smell? I can't see the colors well.

First glance, I thought heart pine, but then thought old growth "Bald cypress", or maybe "Pitch pine". Doug-fir is likely a good match. I would look up these 4 maybes on Paul's site and try to color match and grain match your pieces. Resin canals may be the boat to follow....

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## SENC (May 11, 2015)

I would have bet heart pine, though I'd defer to the experts. Looks a lot like the stuff we see around here in old house and barn sills.


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## phinds (May 11, 2015)

SENC said:


> I would have bet heart pine, though I'd defer to the experts. Looks a lot like the stuff we see around here in old house and barn sills.


Yeah, you're right, heart pine is also a good candidate.


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## SENC (May 11, 2015)

phinds said:


> Yeah, you're right, heart pine is also a good candidate.


This might be my proudest moment ever, even if proven wrong in the future. I'm not being facetious.

Reactions: Funny 2


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## Mr. Peet (May 25, 2015)

I mis-spoke about Old Henry at Penn State. The Eastern hemlock was 112 feet tall. The cookie was about 33" inches in diameter, cut at 53 feet above stump, and was aged 385 years. The tree was estimated to be over 500 years in age. The base was not sound or intact to properly age.

New one, I cut a "Dawn Redwood" last week that did not properly survive a late summer transplant through the winter. It acted normal after transplant and defoliated just like the others in the area. Either way, they grow fast. I cut a section from DBH to 6' above stump since it was live below DBH. It was 11 years old at DBH. The biggest growth ring just over an inch.


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## Mr. Peet (May 25, 2015)

Some more sharing. PPL utilities decided to widen their R.O.W. without telling anyone. Last fall, first week of October, they cut 30 Christmas trees on our family property, even though we have a permit from them to grow the trees. They sprayed 100 holiday trees on a property we leased the year before, killing them. Luckily this only effected 7 families. Then I took the kid out for rifle after Thanksgiving and found they cut the Pike county runner up for champion "grey birch" (_Betula populifolia_). Not a big tree, just for the species. Today I found that they also killed the PA state champion candidate for "Nanny berry" (_Viburnum lentago_") during their spray actions. This shrub usually grows to 3-4" inches at DBH. This one was 10+ inches, picture 1.


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## ripjack13 (May 25, 2015)

Mr. Peet said:


> Rip,
> 
> Is the fresh cut (old wood) smooth or sticky? Does it have a smell? I can't see the colors well.
> 
> First glance, I thought heart pine, but then thought old growth "Bald cypress", or maybe "Pitch pine". Doug-fir is likely a good match. I would look up these 4 maybes on Paul's site and try to color match and grain match your pieces. Resin canals may be the boat to follow....


It's smooth...not sticky....I'll cut into a scrap piece tomorrow to test the smellyness....


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## HomeBody (May 26, 2015)

Geez, your power company is destructive. I have trees growing up in my power lines in front of the house and I've asked them to trim them a couple of times...no response. I need your PPL trimming crew around here! Gary


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