What free wood did you find today?

William Tanner said:
The neighbor across the street grew some huge sunflowers this summer and asked if I had any use for these stalks, which look pretty cool. A club member and friend stabilizes a lot of sage brush and thought he might like these. He is interested. Years ago we went to Oregon and got some wood. They guy had some marijuana plants and we brogot some vine home and it was stabilized. At the time I made a pen out of it and posted it on WB. Will see how this goes.

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If he likes those, I'll have to remember to shoot some pictures of Brussels sprouts stems after the soft tissue wears away this winter. Meant to grab some last spring and post some pictures, but, .....
 
Bear Custom Builds said:
Not free, but pretty close to it. Went to a moving sale near where I live and found a bunch of wood in the basement. Most of it was pine boards, but With a little more digging I found these beauties. Some really nice curly walnut. Not sure what species of walnut, but purdy non the less.
You also get a preview of a knife I’m working on for a customer.
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Well...if you like those pieces, I just popped out a 40" diameter, 4 or 5 stem Carpathian walnut stump 2 weeks ago with my little 7,000 pound F150 HD. I can take pictures if you want. Got it next to a "bird's eye" white ash log I'm cutting up for firewood.
 
@Mr. Peet If you plan on cutting it up, I might be interested in a few pieces. I’d be willing to trade for a few pieces of it. If you want cash for it, I’d say set some aside for me as I’ve been doing some spending as of late and need to take a little break. You know how it is. I have some possible buyers for some knives lined up, so I’ll let you know soon.
 
Some old growth Huisache that died during the covid freeze. Whoever cut it down cut everything into 1-2' pieces. Have been slowly collecting/processing into blocks.

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Mr. Peet said:
Is that Acacia farnesiana? Also called Vachellia farnesiana...
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yes that's the one we have here that the botanists call huisache

full of thorns like i have never seen before

some more pictures here

Hey everyone from Austin, TX

I was bit by the wood bug(not the boring kind) a cpl years back after I was in a house fire which took a while to recover. While recovering I dove into the world of knives on instagram. With that came an interest in all things knife handles. I was amazed by the beauty of the woods I was seeing...
woodbarter.com
 
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So I recently found out that some other people know about the pile of wood that want it "for firewood". Going to act like I didn't hear it and make sure the larger pieces are given second life instead of being turned into ash.
 
tcarltonw said:
So I recently found out that some other people know about the pile of wood that want it "for firewood". Going to act like I didn't hear it and make sure the larger pieces are given second life instead of being turned into ash.
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Travis,

I have a wood sample collection. In it is a single sample of "huisache" taken just over pith. It has a nice pinkish red heartwood. Being a single sample, it represents just a portion of the looks you can get. I'm looking to attain a 1/4 sawn sample blank and a flat sawn sample blank. Samples finish at 3"x6"x1/2", look like little wood planks. I prefer oversized so I can work the wood and assure finish size, 3/4" thick by 3.5" wide by 7" or " 8 long often work well. Keep me in mind when working up your stock. Thanks.
 
Mr. Peet said:
Travis,

I have a wood sample collection. In it is a single sample of "huisache" taken just over pith. It has a nice pinkish red heartwood. Being a single sample, it represents just a portion of the looks you can get. I'm looking to attain a 1/4 sawn sample blank and a flat sawn sample blank. Samples finish at 3"x6"x1/2", look like little wood planks. I prefer oversized so I can work the wood and assure finish size, 3/4" thick by 3.5" wide by 7" or " 8 long often work well. Keep me in mind when working up your stock. Thanks.
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I will definitely keep you in mind. My plan is to give some blocks out to a cpl of knife makers who's work I appreciate and see what they can do with it. I'm also going to send a few pieces out to be stabalized(K&G as well as Wood Dynamics both said they don't have any experience with it) to see if it takes to stabalizing. Seeing that all the old growth died from the last few freezes and construction is spreading like a wild fire, my access to it is starting to slip away. I say all that just to share. I will definitely do what I can to help a fellow woody. Hope all is well.
 
i slabbed a short log of this at one point. to my recollection it is not nearly as steadfast as mesquite. there was a fair amount of movement when drying and some shrink/splitting, checking that took place
 
Has anyone ever turned dead standing Ash? Trees that have been killed by Emerald Ash Borer?

We were hosting our BIL and his daughter and family in our favorite campground this past week. Beautiful weather and Fall foliage. Anyway, my Brother and I have gotten to know one of the park workers this past year. He was tasked with cutting down all the dead Ash trees and burning them up. Luckily some of the logs were being saved for firewood for the camp host. But no other firewood is suppose to leave the park.

Now, I don't turn (YET ... long story), but I have been butchering up some of the firewood I cut, into wood turning blanks for my Nephew who turns. We brought my Nephew and his family here several years ago for the first time and they fell in love with the park. So I thought it would be nice if he (and I) could make something nice out of park wood.

So, after the worker dropped a tree, I went and asked him for a piece. I explained what I wanted it for and he said 'sure, how much you want? He had some there that still had some pink showing, so he cut me off a 24" l x 22" dia. round off a log. Then he pointed to a 3' x 18" crotch piece. I thought I'd have to wrestle the logs onto my trailer by myself, but he loaded them for me!

So before I waste a lot of time cutting it all up into blanks, does it have any nice grain/character in it? Either way, I still process enough for a few pieces, just not all of it maybe.

Pics later if interested.

Sorry for the long post. Thought background would be useful.
 
As long as the wood is solid, it’s good for turning. It can be plain, but also have color and curl. The below is from a standing dead ash tree. You might also let it spalt, since you have time to let it sit.

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Tom Smart said:
As long as the wood is solid, it’s good for turning. It can be plain, but also have color and curl. The below is from a standing dead ash tree. You might also let it spalt, since you have time to let it sit.

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Can't respond 'Thank You' and 'Wow!' at the same time. I thought being dead standing, it wouldn't crack like living trees do when you cut them. Wrong! There are fine cracks developing (yes I know, cut fresh ends and seal), but more importantly, I want my driveway back. I've spent all Summer cleaning off the side of my rock drive that has become a collection point/splitting area for my firewood. Halfway there with some Hedge logs still there that may have some turning blocks still in them. Plus I'm a procrastinator. I've collected so much wood, including Walnut, that has cracked all to heck and is now firewood.
 
I've turned it, crotch figure can be beautiful and sometimes you can find curl in it that is awesome too. I'm actually building a new workbench out of ash borer killed trees. Wiped out the trees here 10 years ago.
 
woodtickgreg said:
I've turned it, crotch figure can be beautiful and sometimes you can find curl in it that is awesome too. I'm actually building a new workbench out of ash borer killed trees. Wiped out the trees here 10 years ago.
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I've been watching your build with great envy. Wish I had a CSM and a large saw. How fresh was your dead standing Ash? did it still have any pink in it?
 
djg said:
I've been watching your build with great envy. Wish I had a CSM and a large saw. How fresh was your dead standing Ash? did it still have any pink in it?
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No pink, but did have ants in the butt log. I'm cutting around that. I don't think I've see ash with pink in it before. Most everything I've milled looks like what I'm using. I did mill one tree that was kind of on the redish side, wierd, looked like red oak. Back when the ash borers hit her they where taking down trees that still had some leaves, but the upper canopy was dying off. It was really a shame to see all these ash trees get cut down and just chipped. I grabbed what I could. What I have left now is the last of it, all 8/4" My utility trailer walls are 1" ash.
 
I was wondering where I left that, thanks for finding it for me.

I still can't believe you are allowed to handle fiber optics. Do your terminations look like a fried egg or scrambled eggs?
 
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