What free wood did you find today?

Bear Custom Builds said:
Sorry about that, I thought I added this picture.
View attachment 239317
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Yep, those shots say locust. I was hoping you had the other....

The bark on the burl looks more like Clammy locust or Bristly locust than Black. However, when worked into a product, Locust Burl will be all you need to sell. The word burl is often enough....
 
@Mr. Peet @phinds
I was so tunnel visioned when I saw the burl that I didn’t take the time to look around at the other trees around it. So I went back yesterday to take a close look around.
Now its not definite, since the burl was on a dead tree, but it was in the middle of a small stand of sumac. The bark from the tree that I took the burl, although dead, matched the living trees.
The wood is also fairly soft, I’d say its comparable to basswood with the ability to stick a fingernail into it.
I’ll include some pictures I took of the surrounding trees to show the sumac.
6AA62FB0-7215-4E84-9347-C64E126EAA4D.jpeg
the branches ended like this and were covered in fuzz
70E64B1B-D09B-4A55-8AC1-B747B62DA269.jpeg
some also still had these on the ends of the branch, so I know for a fact they are sumac.
I would also like to note that no trees back there had thorns on them, and from what I can tell from my research of locust trees most have some form thorns on them. Correct me if I’m wrong as I’m not completely sure of that.
 
Well, sumac is a lot softer than locust so there's that and yeah, both types of locust trees (the branches, anyway) generally have thorns.
 
Bear Custom Builds said:
@Mr. Peet @phinds
I was so tunnel visioned when I saw the burl that I didn’t take the time to look around at the other trees around it. So I went back yesterday to take a close look around.
Now its not definite, since the burl was on a dead tree, but it was in the middle of a small stand of sumac. The bark from the tree that I took the burl, although dead, matched the living trees.
The wood is also fairly soft, I’d say its comparable to basswood with the ability to stick a fingernail into it.
I’ll include some pictures I took of the surrounding trees to show the sumac.
the branches ended like this and were covered in fuzz

some also still had these on the ends of the branch, so I know for a fact they are sumac.
I would also like to note that no trees back there had thorns on them, and from what I can tell from my research of locust trees most have some form thorns on them. Correct me if I’m wrong as I’m not completely sure of that.
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There are some thornless Honey Locust trees, but I suspect any locust trees in the wild will have some thorns.
 
Bear Custom Builds said:
@Mr. Peet @phinds
I was so tunnel visioned when I saw the burl that I didn’t take the time to look around at the other trees around it. So I went back yesterday to take a close look around.
Now its not definite, since the burl was on a dead tree, but it was in the middle of a small stand of sumac. The bark from the tree that I took the burl, although dead, matched the living trees.
The wood is also fairly soft, I’d say its comparable to basswood with the ability to stick a fingernail into it.
I’ll include some pictures I took of the surrounding trees to show the sumac.
View attachment 239370
the branches ended like this and were covered in fuzz
View attachment 239371
some also still had these on the ends of the branch, so I know for a fact they are sumac.
I would also like to note that no trees back there had thorns on them, and from what I can tell from my research of locust trees most have some form thorns on them. Correct me if I’m wrong as I’m not completely sure of that.
Click to expand...
Those two pictures match Staghorn sumac. The issue I had was your endgrain shot with the steel rule showed rays that appear clear, and look as if they could be seen with the naked eye. Sumac rays are not easy to see, at all.

Both Clammy and Bristly locust can be armed with small 1/4 - 1/2" prickle thorns. However, they can be unarmed as well. The hollow pith is a common trait for locust with stem borers. Sumac has a soft pith that also gets mined out by borers. I'm still thinking Clammy locust. It can have bark similar to Sumac, depending on stage of growth.

When the snow melts, grab another piece of wood from the stem you cut the burl from. Maybe follow it to the ground for more bark pictures....
 
Mr. Peet said:
When the snow melts, grab another piece of wood from the stem you cut the burl from. Maybe follow it to the ground for more bark pictures....
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I can probably do that soon, I like to go on frequent hikes and all the snow has been washed away by rain over here. I should have no problems with pictures.
 
After a long drive today I met my friend Eric at The Log House for a fine dinner. It is The Place to go in Wytheville, VA for good cooking.

He sent me away with a suitcase full of wood to tempt the airport security team with! I'll check this bag so there will be no problem this time.

Oak burl, walnut, osage, Ambrosia, cherry, maple, elm, cherry burl. A smorgasbord of Virginia. And he would not accept a dime. Heck'uva guy!

Thanks, Eric! Great to see you again!

@Eric Rorabaugh

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A friend who has a mill called me yesterday and asked if I wanted some root balls, he didn't want to mess with them. I went over and he had 3, the first was a huge mesquite, to big for me or my pickup. Shown is a smaller mesquite I took, and I still need to go back for an olive root ball that I didn't have room for. This will go in my pile of future projects...
mesquite rootball.webp
 
barry richardson said:
A friend who has a mill called me yesterday and asked if I wanted some root balls, he didn't want to mess with them. I went over and he had 3, the first was a huge mesquite, to big for me or my pickup. Shown is a smaller mesquite I took, and I still need to go back for an olive root ball that I didn't have room for. This will go in my pile of future projects...
View attachment 239918
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The yard has 2 trailer loads cleared this weekend, I need to check if I can get the other mesquite stump... :lol2:
 
barry richardson said:
A friend who has a mill called me yesterday and asked if I wanted some root balls, he didn't want to mess with them. I went over and he had 3, the first was a huge mesquite, to big for me or my pickup. Shown is a smaller mesquite I took, and I still need to go back for an olive root ball that I didn't have room for. This will go in my pile of future projects...
View attachment 239918
Click to expand...
You just got 2 new knees and you're doing this already!??? Be careful man....
 
I went for a ride up to maine yesterday to pick up a huge pine burl from my uncle. I'll post pix tomorrow after I get home from a fishing show event with the grandkid.
 
ripjack13 said:
You just got 2 new knees and you're doing this already!??? Be careful man....
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Well, all I really had to do was drive, he loaded me with his forklift. It is still in my truck, but when I off load it, I will just back up to my shed, tie the stump to a corner post, and drive the pickup out from under it. and there it will sit, for a good while....
 
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